An AA 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, we were all in the club,
Enjoying a meeting, instead of the pub.
The ashtrays were clean, and the coffee was made,
The Big Books were out and we all had prayed.
When out in the lot, there arose such a clatter,
We all jumped up to see what was the matter.
The Chair with his Big Book, and I with my smokes,
Headed outside to find these two blokes.
They came on inside and sat at the table;
And said that they'd chair, as soon as they're able.
To start with, they said, "It's more than not drinking;
It's doing your best to fix your sick thinking."
"Think, Think, Think!" and the slogans we used,
Help keep the newcomer from getting confused.

Step 1 is a start, they said we should know,
But after Step 2, we'll be all aglow.
We make a decision when we got to Step 3;
Step 4 was real tough, we all could agree.
Step 5 is the one where we let it all out,
And after Steps 6 and 7, we're left with no doubt.
When we got to Step 8, we made our list;
And then with Step 9, we have to persist.
After Step 9, the promises ring true;
We didn't just make that up, right out of the blue.
After that, it's on with the rest;
The things we must do, to be our best.

They put on their coats and got ready to leave;
A pretty good end, for this Christmas Eve.
As to their names, we only could guess;
Must have been Bill W. and Dr. Bob S.
The two men hopped into a '35 Ford,
And as they pulled out, one of them roared:
"We leave this message, for our sisters & brothers:
trust God, clean house, and be of service to others.
And for all of you people, I just want to say:
have a nice holiday, but don't drink today!"
Today I know that the light at the end of the
tunnel is an old-timer walking ahead of me
with a lantern.