The Bishop's Wife

‘Twas the week before Christmas

four years ago

and Viv bought a dvd called

The Bishop’s Wife

- We’ll watch it together,

she said,

on Christmas Eve

and I’ll make a lovely soup

and it will be like

the Start of Our Christmas.

And we did.

She made a Lovely Celeriac Soup

and we sat and watched

David Niven and Cary Grant

being a Bishop and an Angel.

It was a good film

and there was a Skating Scene

where Cary Grant

took the Bishop’s Wife skating.

It was great.

It was the Start of Our Christmas

four years ago.

- We’ll make this a Tradition,

said Viv,

and we all agreed.

It would be a good Tradition.

The next year

we did the same thing again

although the soup was not the Lovely Celeriac Soup

because Viv could not get any celeriac

but it was still pretty tasty.

The film was just as good

especially when we remembered the Skating Scene.

- This is a good Tradition, said Viv

we all agreed.

The year after

Viv had a bad cold

and she had to go to bed early

on Christmas Eve.

- We’ll watch The Bishop’s Wife

on Boxing Day,

said Viv.

- Haha! she laughed, d’you remember the Skating Scene?

We all laughed

because we all remembered it.

It was great.

But then we thought

it wouldn’t be

the Start of Our Christmas.

So we decided not to watch it that year,

but we definitely would the next year.

The next year,

at 11pm on Christmas Eve

we were all busy wrapping presents

in different rooms and

Viv shouted

- Oh no!  We forgot to watch The Bishop’s Wife.

- Oh no!  we all said,

but it’s too late now!

We’ll definitely watch it next year, though.

- Yes we will, definitely! we all said.

This year

I bought the Celeriac for the Lovely Celeriac Soup

and when Esmé came home for the holidays she said

- We mustn’t forget to watch The Bishop’s Wife

- We won’t, I said,

I’ve already bought the celeriac for

the Lovely Celeriac Soup.

- Yay! she said.

On Christmas Eve morning

Viv said

- I just have to go in to town

to pick up a few

Last Minute Things

but I’ll be back at midday

and I’ll make the Lovely Celeriac Soup ready

for this evening.

- Yay! said Esmé

- Yay! said Naomi

- Yay! said I.

At a quarter to four

pm

Viv phoned to say

- Can you meet me off the bus,

all the Last Minute Things

are very heavy.

- Of course, I said,

and I went to meet her.

We were walking

Back Up The Hill

when she said

- I’m not making the Lovely Celeriac Soup

tonight

it’s too fiddly.

We’ll have it on Boxing Day.

- Oh, I said, OK.

So this evening,

instead of watching The Bishop’s Wife

and eating Lovely Celeriac Soup,

I’ve written this poem.

The Boys' Choir from The Bishop's Wife