I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day / Old Time Christmas Poem

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet their words repeat
Peace on the earth good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

Then answered those bells, loud and deep
God is not dead, nor does he sleep
The wrong shall fail, and the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men

Ya know, I like the way folks used to do
Back when cattle was plenty and folks was few
Everybody would gather from far and near
And barbecue'em a big fat steer
The kids they liked staying' awake because well,
They reckon they might catch Santa Claus
In the morning they'd come racing down to see
What Santa'd gone and left underneath that tree
It was Christmas back in those days
For the rich and for the poor
And every grandchild had an open door
And the old cowboy who came on the company horse
Was treated the same as the owner or the boss
You see nobody seemed to have a care
He was in among friends or he wasn't there
Of course some have new boots they sure would admire
As they warmed their feet in front of the fire
And the women folk they had new clothes too
But not like the women of Austin, TX did
Sometimes right in the middle of the party
An old stranger would come riding in
We always wondered who he was and where he'd been
And as the years rolled on and on
We'd always wondered where that old stranger with the long beard had gone
Well maybe it's like the book of Corinthians
Where it says something in there
Sometimes you get visited by an angel and you're not even aware
So I still recall that Christmas night
The tops of the mountains capped with white
And the stars so bright they seemed ablaze
As the foothills were swimming in a silver haze
Now those good ol' days are mostly tasked and goneTime and the world and change goes on
And I reckon we can't do things quite like we used to do
Back when cattle was plenty in Texas
And shopping malls and condos were few