we are santa's elves

despite
miles of
snow drifts
and
walking up driveways
that are icy enough
to pass for hockey rinks

and hopping out of the truck
to make
mounted deliveries
because the snowplow guy is a rookie
and is afraid of getting too close to the boxes

despite
all of the
heavy volume
and long hours
and exhaustion

a real
sense of
excitement
always creeps
into
the
job
this time of year

on december 26th
we go back
to being
regular
old
mail carriers

but

for a few

brief
magical
days
we are santa's elves