'Twas the night before Christmas, we were all in the club,

Enjoying a meeting, instead of a 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 inside and sat at a 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 Step 6 and 7, we are 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 there 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 dont'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 .