Twas the Night Before Debate

1. Twas the night before debate, when all through Seattle
Not a creature was stirring, not even in channel;
The chairs all were placed before tables with care,
In hopes that Doctor Oakley soon would be there;
The Calvies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of cross-exam danced in their heads;
And Flamey in her jammies and I in mine too,
Had just settled down for an October snooze,

2. When outside the door there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the hallway as fast as a train,
Unfastened the dead bolt and unhooked the chain.
The laser pointer and sounds gave me a clue
And I heard Scottish accents, so surely I knew,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a laptop, an iPod, stacks of books by Shabir,

3. With a bright colored sweater, his bald head in sight,
I knew in a moment it must be James White.
More rapid than eagles the channel rats came,
And he chuckled, and chortled, and called them by name;
"Now, AO! Now, Tired! Now MrP! Shuey!
On, Uni! On, How2! On, Wifey, and Bluey!
The defense of the cross! And here that is our call
Now read away! Read away! Read away all!"

4. As dry dust that before the wild desert storm fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the book-stacks the channel rats flew,
With hearts full of prayer, and Doctor Oakley too.
And then, in a twinkling, Doc’s studious looks,
The rustling of pages in each of his books.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the hallway Doctor Oakley came with a bound.

5. He was dressed in Coogi, his tartan tie in hand,
And on his wrist, his bright blue “No Compromise” band;
All of his notes his trusty Blackberry stored,
Bible verses and quotes that could not be ignored.
His laptop-- how useful! Libronics- how geeky!
And he even brought AOMin’s faithful dog Zekey!
Total Recorder played something by Deedat,
No possible way it would be won by mere fiat;

6. The end of a pen he held tight in his teeth,
And his tablet PC, it displayed the Hadith;
BibleWorks was open, and Qur’an Reader Pro,
And his iPod was playing some songs by Mylo.
He was ready it seemed, he was fit for the task,
Could answer any question Muslims might ask;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know we had nothing to dread;

7. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And packed up the books, changed his channel nick to “lurk”,
He finished up emails that needed to be sent,
And with a holy nod, to his room he went;
He stood by the door, to the channel rats he waved,
And I wondered if from the usual kick Greg was saved.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he went out of sight,
"HAPPY DEBATE TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT."

Written by Marie Peterson, 10/06/2007