Once I saw some little Elves
Sitting right upon the shelves.
I looked and saw that they were just
A tiny sprinkle of Christmas dust.

But then I looked and looked again
I saw that they were little men.
They changed and changed and changed some more
Until they vanished into the floor.

I didn’t think anything else of that
But when Christmas came
Under the tree just for me
Were the Elves that used to be on the shelve.

By Sally Oxborrow