The festive season brings with it a tapestry of emotions and experiences, We’re delighted to share a collection of poems that beautifully encapsulate the essence of Christmas. These pieces, each unique in their style and perspective, weave together the recurring themes of this magical period.
In Winter Herd, Gonzalez portrays the resilient journey of northern reindeer across a frosty landscape. This poem speaks to the enduring spirit of Christmas, a time when even the coldest days are warmed by the anticipation of joy and togetherness. The imagery of reindeer, synonymous with the holiday season, evokes a sense of wonder and continuity amidst the harshness of winter.
Rafferty’s Solstice Souls is a lively ode to the indomitable spirit of Christmas. Despite the long, dark nights, there’s a palpable warmth brought forth by those who “hold a candle for us all.” This poem celebrates the communal joy and the light-hearted defiance of winter’s gloom, embodying the very essence of festive cheer and togetherness.
In Times, O’Brien touches on the whimsy and nostalgia inherent in the Christmas season. Her lines paint a vivid picture of simple, yet profound, moments of happiness – from playful snowmen to the shared smiles that light up our faces. It’s a reminder of the small, yet significant, joys that define our holiday experiences.
Laycock’s Anticipation beautifully captures the eager expectation of the first snow, a quintessential element of the Christmas experience for many. The poem’s vivid imagery and emotive language reflect the mixed feelings of hope and slight disappointment, a sentiment familiar to anyone who has longed for a white Christmas.
Alan Parry’s You Really Shouldn’t Have insightfully captures the complexity of family dynamics during Christmas, particularly through the “smiled weak lemon” line, which reveals the narrator’s forced happiness and concealed disappointment. This portrayal of a common holiday facade highlights the pressure to feign joy, despite genuine feelings. More than a Christmas poem, Parry’s work reflects on deeper themes of communication, understanding, and the yearning to be truly known by our loved ones, reminding us that the most heartfelt gifts are those that resonate with the recipient’s true self.
O’Grady’s poem offers a unique perspective, intertwining elements of different cultures in the celebration of Christmas. The meticulous description of a traditional Japanese Cha-Dansu storing Christmas memories creates a blend of nostalgia and cultural fusion, symbolizing the universal nature of the holiday season.
Finally, Anderson’s poem is a tender narrative set against a Christmas backdrop. It’s a story of attraction, effort, and the captivating beauty of a snowy cityscape. This piece encapsulates the romantic and magical atmosphere that often surrounds the festive season.
In conclusion, each of these poems sheds light on the varied facets of Christmas – the joy, anticipation, nostalgia, and even the bittersweet moments. They remind us that Christmas is not just a season, but a mosaic of human emotions and experiences, beautifully wrapped in the chill of winter and the warmth of human connection. As we celebrate this festive season, let’s embrace the myriad of feelings and moments that these poets have so eloquently captured.
Winter Herd
Karen Pierce Gonzalez
Northern reindeer cross frozen tundra
before early spring warms ice
into pools too cold to swim.
They stop only when pregnant does,
wombs heavy, slide sideways
as cervixes soften.
Fawns born too weak
will not be left on the floe
for final darkness.
They will be nudged
onto the antlers of bucks
circling back around –
breath steaming out their nostrils.
Solstice souls
Jay Rafferty
Christmas is Christmas is Christmas
is Christmas is Christmas, always
chaotic, always uncouth, raucous
and red-cheeked. Never snowing
but frosty and misted, a grey and white
sky. Too much coal-black afternoons.
Any sensible mind would say the worst
of times, darkness befallen all
of mankind, the long teeth-chattering
night of the soul. Thank the solstice
for insensible minds and souls
with a fire built in. They hold a candle
for us all, often a dozen or so. They make
the night bearable. They make winter
joyous, they make the darkness light,
they turn what should be our worst
moment into our best, our holly jolliest,
our merriest for want of an uncommon word.
They make Christmas Christmas.
Times
Catherine O’Brien
Our lives are perforated by sprigs of time
but ‘tis the season
to take a palette knife to wayward concerns
smoothing the trickiest of edges.
Chimneys huff and puff carefree adventures
the result may be a carrot for a nose.
Scrunched into scarves are faces,
capillaries of delight bob beneath the surface.
The sticky syrup of happiness flows like ochre maple
in the floodlights of our smiles.
Anticipation
Helen Laycock
I held my breath
as the dark sky held his.
We exhaled together,
but there was no
soft sigh of snow;
he spat as though
clearing a clog of ash
from his throat,
coughing it sideways,
tumbling it untidily,
each drunk lump
in silent collision.
I had hoped
for a flurry of fairies
Dropping
in white parachutes
but these thugs
didn’t even make landfall.
You Really Shouldn’t Have
Alan Parry
for years
i unwrapped
boxes of red & green
bricks
& saw nothing but blunt tools
i hugged your shins & smiled weak lemon
but really i needed
to burn those
blocks & their blueprints
i’ll
not forget that rugby ball
in figgy paper
a giant chocolate-coated brazil nut
& the long-sleeved shirt with its heavy collar
it won’t tear
at night
you complained i’d spoil the party
smashing matchbox cars to a pulp
you’d have preferred
i left them untouched
laid bare like last year’s
chemistry set / joinery kit
i spent my christmas eves
praying for pencils & a pad
so i could create the boy
you were asking for in the next room
Christmas stowed in your Cha-Dansu
Sarah O’Grady
Waxed, elm slides apart,
reveals fir cones
gilded for the saffron joy
of bagatelles.
Sugi is cedar in Japanese.
Toasted kukicha leaches
from the woods,
flavours the twist
of five spice
too stale to mull.
Spruce tapers roll loose
in the box,
a fillette of champagne
sooted with your print
from the last fire you laid.
Lametta flows like kintsugi
through the gaps.
When Impressing a Female Bell-ringer
Morag Anderson
Gain written permission for keys to the tower.
Sign your name against those numbered seven.
Pause in the stained-glass cast of evening light.
Let her note the cobalt blue in your eyes.
Unlock the wooden door at the tower’s base.
Stretch your arm to hold the weight ajar.
Invite her to manoeuvre through. Smile.
Admire her spiral one hundred stone steps.
Follow the worn tread of those who’ve gone before.
Observe pace losing power as she summits.
Squeeze neatly past to unlock the chamber.
Do not enter yet. The city’s snow-bright spires will
catch what’s left of her breath. Lock the door.
Nature poetry. For too long, it’s been the domain of soft-focus sentimentality: predictable scenes of meadows, rivers, and, yes, even gliding gulls.
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s impossible not to marvel at how much has been accomplished in just one year. This
Call for Submissions: Glow: City at Night Poems The Broken Spine is excited to announce that submissions for our latest slimline anthology,
The Broken Spine is a poetry and arts collective proudly published on the coastal edge of North-West England. Founded in 2019 by Alan Parry and Paul Robert Mullen – two school friends reunited after twenty years through a mutual love of poetry.
