‘Twas late in the office, I was there over-time
The furniture was tired, my chair squeaked in rhyme;
The springs in it were average, not broken, not in fashion,
My team had been searching for a decorator with passion;
The clients had noticed our poor sense of design;
While I had visions of an office in wood, like pine;
The intern was on it, sort of, but he had vacation,
I settled my brains on refreshing the place of my occupation,
When out on the lot there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Pulled open the blinds and peered through the ash.
The moonlight on the new-fallen snow,
Gave a little more beauty to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a hybrid car and eight folks in work gear,
They had a GPS app AND a map to check,
I knew in a moment it must be Envirotech.
They looked up and saw me, said “This is the place!”
And off for the elevator they started to race:
“Now, William! now, Sasha! now Aretha and Jordan!
On, Patrick! on, Lola! on, David and Sanzen!
To the top of the shelves! to the top of the wall!
Now work away! design away! remanufacture all!”
Their leader was Sasha, she was stylish and clean
I knew in a moment her focus was all green!
“You’ve got decor problems, but I’m not dissing,”
She said, “One screw on your workstation is missing;”
I replied: “But the holidays are coming, what should I do?”
She smiled and said, “You know we have an online showroom too—“
And then, in a twinkling, I heard out in the hall;
the heaving and hauling of them all.
David and Sanzen were carrying a chair and tables,
While Aretha and Jordan wound up all computer cables.
William, he brought us new drawers for papers and files,
There was no more need to keep my contracts in piles;
Patrick and Lola had a couch for the lounge on their backs,
They all hung their coats on recycled racks.
Sasha was ready to have words with me;
About how much better our world could be;
“Our team is committed,” she started to say;
“To a world that will see a better way;”
I was proud of our remanufactured solution;
To reduce office waste and pollution.
Our new look was so fresh, I started to tremble;
Sasha said: “We’ll take the old stuff, when we go;
“We’ll recycle components in a new assemble;
“Little by little we’ll make landfills low.”
I was surprised, I was teary, but the Envirotech team,
They made me feel cheery;
As I watched them configure our seating;
I knew my colleagues would enjoy next meeting;
I spoke to Sasha, a right jolly young elf,
And I laughed when I replied, in spite of myself;
“My team will love this, it’s beyond belief;
“Creating less waste is such a relief;
“Our planet, it needs us, to think of its dirt;
“Its oceans, its creatures, we want nothing to hurt!”
Sasha spoke not a word, the team continued to work,
For them, doing good was quite a perk.
There was pride in the reupholstered, the refinished and repaired;
I was proud too of how our office had fared.
Our workplace was refurbished,
The Envirotech team was done;
“Thank you,” I said, “it was fun.”
They sprang to their hybrid and were safe and secure,
We’d all made good choices, of that we were sure.
Then, I heard them exclaim, ere they drove out of sight—
“A greener Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
– Kate Baggott
About the Author
Born in Toronto, resident of St.Catharines, Kate Baggott is the award-winning author of the short story collections Love from Planet Wine Cooler and Dry Stories. Links to recently published pieces can be found at www.katebaggott.com