by george (a christmas story) in poetry

there’s a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when it gets there
we’re just a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when we get there
like George Bailey

do you like “It’s A Wonderful Life”?/I hate “It’s A Wonderful Life”
it’s a tale of giving up your dreams/like my nightmares every night

George wanted to build buildings
George wanted to just see the world
George might find himself a girl
that’s all that he wanted

George got himself a steamer case
wanted to cover its entire face/with cities that seemed imaginary
some by now we’ve bombed to smithereens
that’s beside the point though only barely

there’s a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when it gets there
we’re just a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when we get there
like George Bailey

George wasn’t given a chance
didn’t get to Buffalo to watch those ladies dance
George dove into the ice from the start
lost hearing in one ear so he couldn’t hear his heart
calling out to the million places that aren’t Bedford Falls
even if he beat Potter now his kids will just tear down the bank to put up malls
put up mansions with high walls
when face to face with God, God said:
“you get this life or you get nothing at all”

George got married to his best friend’s second-hand
George got his father’s burden when he died
demons of commerce and angels from heaven
strapped him up to Bedford Falls and left him crucified
not on a high hill with thieves nor on Roman mound
to maintain life-support on a dying town melting as it hit the ground
like George

God wouldn’t end his suffering so money was found
that would save the town for a few years
but that’s no happy ending I want a middle ground
I just know that I would be a better God
than the one who nailed up George

I’d send him off to Baghdad before we blew it up
I’d send him to Los Angeles to help build all the neat stuff
I’d send him to New York I’d send him to Taipei
let him choose for himself
if he wanted to go back someday

there’s a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when it gets there
we’re just a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when we get there
like George Bailey

did you ever see Emmett Otter’s Christmas Jugband
that’s a better Christmas special to keep around on-hand
there’s a talent competition taken on by Emmett and his friends
a flashy group swoops in to win it the Jugband takes second in the end
but it gets them a weekly gig at the Puppettown cafe
they get to make a little money they get to sing and play
that’s the happy ending I wish for George
that’s the Christmas wish I have for you
the Christmas wish I have for myself too
we only get a little time here/snowflakes that we are
we deserve some time to sing and roam guided by the stars
so did George Bailey

there’s a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when it gets there
we’re just a little bit of snow in the air/melting on the ground when we get there
like George

Last updated December 18, 2015