''Twas two days before Christmas,

And in the Standard house,

There was a creature stirring,

Most likely a mouse.

It's up in the ceiling, 

Scurrying away, 

Making a racket, 

Both night and day.

It's been there for years,

Not sure what it's after.

Its constant presence

Prompts both fear and laughter.

Exactly what he is

Has been hard to determine,

But we just assume

He's some type of vermin.

Calling him a mouse

Seems somehow more pleasant

Even though he sounds bigger,

Like a raccoon or pheasant.

In editorial,

There's five humble souls working.

But the ceiling mouse makes six,

As he's constantly lurking.

We work pretty hard,

Some days without end,

But nobody spends

More hours here than our friend,

He and his family

Have been quite the pests,

All of our patience 

They definitely test.

We've trapped ten of his brethren

In the years past,

But the one in the ceiling 

Continues to last.

Just where they all came from

Is quite hard to say,

We just live in hopes

He'll leave us one day.

In other situations,

Maybe this would sound cuter,

But the only mouse we want here

Helps work a computer.

We've never quite seen him,

But we know he's not stopping;

We've stumbled across

Some of his droppings.

The sounds while we're working

Cause much consternation,

A mouse in the house

Can break concentration.

The racket he makes

Causes him to seem large, 

Less like a mouse 

And more like a barge.

We're trying to bask

In Christmas spirit,

But the creature is causing

Some here to fear it.

He's not all that scary

In the light of day.

But at two in the morning,

That's harder to say.

He gave quite a startle

To Sports Editor Jeff,

Who texted me late,

Scared half to death.

There have been some employees

Threatening to quit

If our intruder ever

Shows up where they sit.

He's up there living

Right over our heads,

But even so,

We don't wish him dead.

We'd just prefer

He'd find a new place to caper, 

And not hover over

Where we build the newspaper

So we'd like to extend

From the Standard house,

A merry Christmas to all,

except maybe the mouse.

Standard Managing Editor Seth Wright can be reached at (931) 473-2191