The following is a poem written by the moderately-famous Japanese artist Ukai Uchiyama in the mid '60s. The calligraphic print he made of it is, as far as I know, still on show in Kohn (Koln?), Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having read it, I can't help but feel that it loses something in translation.

Chapter Two - The Family Business
December 26 

Santa Claus stamped the last of the snow from his boots before stepping over the threshold. Closing the door behind him, he called out "I’m home!"

"Hi dad!" came the reply from down the hall. Sighing, Santa hung his hat on the stand next to the door, and shrugged off his heavy coat.

In the kitchen, there was a small pile of letters on the counter. He thumbed through them. Nothing that needed to be read straight away. He wandered into the lounge room, where Dean was sitting cross-legged on the floor, springs and bolts and other mechanical parts spread out around him in piles. He was holding some kind of intricate clockwork device, and was peering into it intently. The room smelled of wood smoke from the fire in the corner, where a log was smouldering gently.

"Hey, champ," said Santa, trying to force some cheerfulness into his voice. "What are you working on there?"

Dean looked around, and smiled. "It might be a new regulator for stamping machine seven at factory nine."

"Might be?" Santa asked, coming to sit opposite his son.

"Well, yeah. At the moment it’s a complicated way of sending springs shooting across the room, but I think I can make it work."

"That’s my boy. Did you just get back? How’s your mother?"

"She wants to talk to you, but had to rush off for work. We stopped past factory three on the way here so I could get some parts."

Santa stood. "You just reminded me – I have to go into factory one and see Eva. I’ll have to call your mother tomorrow. Aren’t you going out tonight?"

Dean had picked up a tiny screwdriver and was twisting something in the device. "Yeah, but nobody’s going to be there yet. It won’t get going for an hour or so yet. How did the meeting go?"

Santa hesitated. "Oh, you know," he said. "Once you’ve been to one meeting you’ve been to them all, really. I would have slipped away early if I could, but they like seeing me in the room, you know how it is. I was sitting there with glassy eyes half the time"

Dean held the regulator up to the light, examining the structure again. "You’ll have to teach me one day how to sit still in there and still listen to everything everyone says." He put down the tools and stood, smiling. "Hey, um, if you’re not using it, could I borrow the sleigh on Monday night?"

"Monday night? What’s on Monday night?"

"Gabe and Tim are having an end-of-year party; everyone’s going to be there. Their house is on the other side of town."

"Are you going to drink?" Santa followed Dean back into the kitchen.

"No dad, I’ll be safe." Dean opened the fridge, examining the contents with the same thoughtful expression he had used for the regulator.

"All right then, I’ll leave the reins on the hook by the door. If you stay the night there you’ll have to be home by midday on Tuesday; I’ll need to go into town."

"Thanks." Dean pulled out the water jug and filled two glasses, pushing one across the counter.

Santa idly ran a gloved finger around the rim of the glass, his mind full of the ghost’s plan. He would have to go and see him personally. There was still so much to talk about.

He glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten o’clock. "I won’t be long," he said, then sipped at the water. "I just need to make sure Eva’s finished standing down the elves, and check some paperwork. Will you be here when I get home?"

"I’m not going for an hour or so." Dean’s brow creased. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, it’s been a busy Christmas, you know how it is. The elves are always on edge, and it’s no picnic to manage factories full of overexcited elves." He gestured at the clockwork regulator on the counter. "The stamping machines in factory nine couldn’t have broken at a worse time. I’ve just got a lot on my plate," he finished with a small sigh.

Dean walked over to the sink and put down his empty glass. "Yeah, well get some sleep, okay? At least you get a break now."

"Yes, well, once I wrap up this business anyway." He drained his glass. "I’ll be home inside the hour."

"Okay, see you then."

-----

Dean waited until the door shut, then went to the kitchen window. He watched the reindeer pick up speed along the runway until the sleigh finally left the ground and soared off toward the town. Then he carefully pulled out the bag that had been hastily stuffed into his pocket, and checked to make sure everything was still all right. Exhaling in relief, he moved it to his jacket pocket and picked up the regulator. Hopefully he could stop it shedding springs before he had to go, at least.

...Addendum...
I've been wondering: how do you pronounce "Azukar"? My mum trying to sound it out made me wonder how you people say it.
AZ-u-kaa (that's a short "oo", not "u" as in "you")
a-ZOO-kuh (like #5, but "kuh" like "cut")
AZ-oo-kar (like #1, but sound the "R")
AZ-yuu-kar ("you" instead of "oo")
az-OO-ker (sounds like bazooka, sort of)