Cat's eyes search for someone near the tree. Ten below, twenty with the wind— the same cold my father knew, standing watch on another Christmas. Power's out. We huddle close. The departed huddle too— shoulder to shoulder with the living, warming themselves at our fireplace. Candles burn: cinnamon, spruce, mom's bayberry. An old sock hangs from the mantle, waiting for can...

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Sitting, standing, fleeing

trembling to the ceiling

Frustration aching through

When another year floats up astew

 

Soddened, Scrooged and scathing

A year of merciless disembowling

Taut in all the wrong places

Left ever thin as black mudied laces

 

Criticism can't be caught when it's so fericuously fraught

Malplaced friendly fire leaving cantankerous colleagues in t...

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This

Time of

The year I 

Attempt to try

To end the year with

Each of my friends smiling 

So I pick out their gifts and 

Try write them cards but the printer

Broke once again, so I’ll send emails

But I don’t know what to get them so I 

Give gifts in mid January but my friends, they

Don’t seem to mind, so we end the year with smiles

And hugs and promises it will w...

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I’ve

Always

Felt as if

Christmas time will

Feel so strange, when I

Work the day, try find a

Way to celebrate alone 

Then overheat, see family

End up walking half an hour home

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Sweet Poinsettia,
how your leaves
beckon us
towards Christmas cheer!
Your cream or crimson colors
create full seasonal spirit.

We carolers sing beside you
as you listen
with proud patience.
Christmas lights sparkle
as they compliment your luster.

Bloom, Poinsettia,
and blossom
as Christmas Time
adores you.

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Oh, Christmas joy, where did you go?

I lost that feeling long ago!

Those magical nights of rosy glows

Where Jack frost nibbled at ya toes

 

The wide-eyed wonder, of wondrous things

Locked in a box where no bell rings 

I wonder where, the wonder went

To sing away my heart's lament 

 

I smile In dreams 

Of Christmas past.

That rosy glow we thought

would last. 

...

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The tree is smaller this year: 

those in pots on the patio  

too heavy to drag inside.   

You with your knee and shoulder, 

me recovering after the hernia.  

 

Yet we’ll have ten round the table 

this Christmas, all being well, 

including three bright-eyed grandchildren 

plus one neurotic greyhound 

spooked by the beeping hob and oven.  

 

The weather is bleak o...

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I'm dreaming of a Wet Christmas

Just like the one we had last year

Where the tree tops drip

And children slip

To see grazed knees upon the ground

 

I'm seeing a wet Christmas

With every sunlit morning rise

Where the wind is howling

And shoppers are scowling

To find that next Black Friday deal

 

I'm feeling lots of eyesight appointments

With all the screen tim...

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Help!

Santa’s

Brand new wheels

Have been held up

In gigantic drifts;

He skimped on the snow chains.

Back to the reindeer next time.

This Christmas risks cancellation,

As glum kids stare at empty chimneys.

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Stars

from the

Christmas box

dusty corners

hidden in the loft

each bauble has a memory

every tinsel frond a friend

celebrations and auld lang syne

pause to think of future and the past

 

Adam Smith

December 2025

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One

Star bright

Lantern-glow

Carols drifting

Candy cane dancing

Evergreen branches sway

Joy gathers around tables

Mistletoe brought home from forest

Year-end turning, warmth clear through the frost

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Christmas music - it's now time to hear,
As we all celebrate this time of year.
It makes us happy and merry and jolly,
As it's time to be silly and full of folly.

It takes us into the festive mood,
Before all the parties and the food.
We delight in the wonderful atmosphere,
For it shows that Christmas is finally here.

Some songs are slow while some are fast,
It's just so great that we...

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Bodies are burning their oil lamps brightly

from the windows overlooking the church  

their silhouettes shape-shift on the bedroom walls

as they move from room to room,

neither stand still long enough for you 

to grasp who or what they are,

televisions flicker in accord

as if planned in some way, it’s strangely romantic

as if part of a passion play – and I am the only one h...

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The resounding sins, of

many echo through

their etheric karma

manifesting the

good intentions, of

Personal Truth

 

at the end of the day the air waves:

find their way back home,

when the sun goes down, and

the lights go out at night

 

lightning never strikes the same place twice

however, once in a while you wonder…How? 

 

In the world we live in —

Th...

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The tree is man-made, the gifts are fake,

The carols make my stomach ache.

I hate the crowds, the forced-up cheer,

The noise that fills this time of year.

 

The sales are loud, the hype is worse,

Everyone's lost in some gift-giving curse.

The cookies? -Too sweet! The songs? -A "bore"!

I’d rather be locked behind my door.

 

So skip the cheer, and ditch the mess,

I’d...

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It's almost Christmas,

It's snowing and snowflakes twirl in the winter sky.

My roof has caved in, a heavy sigh

As beams and rafters begin to cry.

It's raining and there's fog in the distance,

The rain is a gentle patter on windowpanes,

And from my window, I see lights twinkling on and off inside the fog,

Each blink a whisper, a light in the heart.

It's a sight to behold ind...

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Putting the flash into flash fiction for this festive poem!

Boxing day

A day of cheer

Till his lucky boxers

Disappear

 

A desperate search 

Both high and low 

He can't back down 

Nowhere to go

The fight draws near

The crowd awaits 

Without his shorts 

It's left to fate 

He's fearing failure 

Doubt creeps in

Without his shorts 

How can he win?

B...

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🌟

I

Smile 

In dreams  

Of Christmas past.

That rosy glow we thought

would last. A sprinkle of wonder

In wide-eyed bliss. Mistletoe hanging 

For a virgin kiss. We believed in magic for

A little while. Such sights & sounds sent to

 beguile. If only we'd kept it in a little box, to

 open 

when

Age

Tick  tock

Tick tocks 

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Believe

 

What

is the

reason for

the season? Why

do we celebrate

the date a child was born?

Perhaps... as a reminder

We have a chance for redemption

If we open our hearts to believe.

[]

 

(Click Read/Comment to get Christmas tree effect)

 

                                               

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When I was young, it made sense

The lights, the candles, the innocence

Misty eyed, fretting with excitement

I feel like now, I knew what it meant

 

Memories like a radiant dream

With all the colours in a warm stream

Images flicker in the fog of now

Like a scared and lost dessert cow

 

Golden sights and sounds

Chopping Brussles to a ground

Presents wrapped with a...

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Every year, around this time

A certain feeling swells of mine

Like a rugby ball stuck in the gut

A Christmas shell explodes and cuts

 

December 1st, plan a list

Of all the things you hate entwined

Gifts, toys, you know the score

Dec 12th, what a bore

 

Surely music can help bring the feeling

But a random playlist leaves me reeling

Old crooners return to haunt

...

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Tears

Trickled

        Down her cheeks

        At the sight of

               The empty stocking,

               The house, unvisited.

                      While, next door, Father Christmas

                      Looked at his watch, zipped up his bag

                     And roared home for breakfast in his Jag.

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The streets of the past have a golden hue

Known to only me and you

Forgoing the shy starlight

A golden youthful yellow delight

 

The nights were littered with gold

A yellow wind left to behold

Sunlight at night

What a golden honey sight

 

People, cars and dogs

Streaming through a yellow fog

Christmas fairs and hot chocolate

A warmth and love now forgot

 

...

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Christpocolypse

 

20th December and the lights are down

Expectance in abundance

As we look around

 

No tinsel or snow

No time to let go

Too tired and small

No feeling at all

 

They say he’ll be here soon enough

Yet time will soon have had enough

But we must be ready and not wither

The time is now, we must deliver

 

Yet who will come I ask?

It isn’...

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This poem is based on a story which appeared over Christmas, and which was taken to be true!

AWOL = absent without leave

 

The Christmas gammon have gone spitting mad,

they think asylum seekers are going AWOL

for Christmas: yes here in the UK it’s that bad,

with nothing around here but strife and trouble,

that’s why those “foreigners” want to go home!

Gee Beebie News are ha...

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T’Chrismus Gammon have gone spittin’ mad,

‘cos t’asylum seekers are gooin’  AWOL

fer Chrismus; aye, here in t’UK it’s reet bad,

there’s nowt reawnd ‘ere but strife on’ trouble,

so t’forinners‘re seekin’ asylum back whoam!

Gee Beebie News‘re ‘avin’ a meltdown,

they’re at it like rabid dogs wi’ a bone,

parliament’s an asylum, on’ t’loons‘re in charge,

con wi not send ‘em t’li...

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Breaking News ...

 

They sent Santa to Rwanda

He didn’t want to go

The reindeer got deported too

That’s the last they’ll see of snow

In attempting to circumvent border control

It was deemed an illegal immigration 

Caught in the lights of the aerial patrol

With no proof of destination 

Now he’s in a detention place

The subject of arrest

They’ve digitised (and 3D ...

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Down On Candy Cane Lane
Several Elves Burst Into Flame
Rudolph Was Sad
But, Santa Was Mad
Knowing Spiked Eggnog Was To Blame.

Santa Put The Drink On A Shelf
Too High Up For Any Elf.
But, The Elves Formed A Plan
And Hired A Man
Who Took And Drank It Himself.

-------
Visit me at Medium.com

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Blowing all over the exposed garden
On Christmas Day
Before yielding to the gusts 
The leaves blow words
Over the frozen ground
Buried in the spotlight,

Pushing our lifetimes
In front of our faces
Tearing us away from our presents 
Like coins in sunken vases
A miracle into a wonderful life
A family drama into a celebration.

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Santa's not coming this year

He's sick of all the ‘tech’

Nobody wants the good ol’ stuff

It's all gone a bit Star Trek!

 

Xbox, PlayStation, IPhone,

Fit bit, airpods, Meta!

Will it ever end?

It definitely won't get any better!

 

It may be a feast for the eyes 

But, don't eat those mince pies!

It's a feast for your slumbering belly!

In front of your gamin...

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How has the shrine of wisdom and manger

Become a nightmare of fear and danger?

Lives tossed aside, like unwanted presents,

Of factory workers and toiling peasants?

How has Christmas, day of celebration,

Been transformed into a desecration,

Where the rocket, mortar, the flag and fist

Are the only currencies which subsist,

And the welcome afforded to a guest

Is replaced b...

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The invitation came from an anonymous source

With a hint of menace in a note of force

A resolution has been passed

By our High Command

For festive entertainment we want your band

This is not optional, there’s no way out 

We’re ready and waiting so don’t hang about

Be at the Village Hall on the Thirteenth of December

And prepare to deliver an event to remember

There’ll be...

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It is everybody's Christmas -
It's a time to celebrate.
It is everybody's Christmas -
We've waited so long for this date.

It is everybody's Christmas -
We are planning and preparing.
It is everybody's Christmas -
We are giving and we're sharing.

It is everybody's Christmas -
A time for kindness and good will.
It is everybody's Christmas -
And our stomachs we shall fill.

It is eve...

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 MY QUERY:

Hello Ghazala,
I was wondering if you could tell me the meaning of some words you use?
"sakeenah"
"azzawajall"
Also:
Do you recognise Jesus as a prophet?
Do you celebrate his birthday at Christmas?

------------------------------------------------------------

ANSWER:

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Over the stillness
a silence greets our walk
alongside the snow
to your family,

the wind curiously absent
and no children
eager to build snowmen
or men walking their dogs,

a stillness greeting footsteps
that one sound
carrying us forward
binding us together in excitement,

that one continuous emotion
a love spreading us onward
across the snow
forwards never backwards

forward...

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5 days until Christmas Haiku

 

Emptying the food shelves

five days until Christmas falls

panic rises high.

 

 

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As snow came down

her wondrous eyes

flared as bright

as winter skies

 

She imagined they fell

from Santa's sleigh 

And that he might

pop down & say:

 

What a good girl

you've been this year 

You may get more

than an apple & pear!

 

And through a window

frosted lightly,

she saw a snowman

fat, but sprightly!

 

He danced & raised

his batt...

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Nearly bloody well threw up,

Today in bloody M&S,

Sick of bloody bull-shit,

Bloody “Winter Wishes” dishes!

Jesus Christ, enough already,

This is bloody Britain mate!

We’re celebrating bloody Christmas,

Not “Winter bloody Festival”,

Not “Winter bloody Holiday”,

This ain’t the bloody USA,

It’s bloody-well the UK,

Shove your bloody “Winter” bollocks,

Where the bloo...

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Resurrecting ghosts
the snow blows under the bridge
beneath the train staiton
blowing a invisible bell
weighted in emotion

tunnelling over a day
foretold in images over frozen lakes
shawled over empty hills
and ringing bells pausing
in a silent moment of reflection

filing our footprints in silence
our hands into snowmen
wishing we had put our boots on
and our toches in our pockets
...

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Mam,

What was it you said

As a I lay in my bed

One snowy Christmas Eve?

 

That if I believe

In what I receive

Comes from a magical place

 

Then, the world can be yours

There'll be open doors

Into realms 

beyond our time & space 

 

***

Merry Christmas & a better New Year to all on planet WOL! ❤️

 

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A Christmas Wish 

 

I wish I could go back for just a day

I wish there was a magic way

To twenty years or so ago. 

To christmas past as white as snow.

To little kids in soft pyjamas, 

Christmas specials of telly dramas. 

Excitement sizzles in the air, 

Gifts from loved ones soon to share.

Special baubles cover the tree, 

Children waiting full of glee. 

Santa’s m...

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In the bed, she lay

So tired & so frail

Like the room itself

So colourless & pale

 

At least, through the window

She could see the snowflakes dance

Falling in a serenade

To a winter's night romance

 

Her bed sores burned like hell

In this purgatory of self

A forgotten thing called living

Lay dormant on its shelf

 

But the snow fell so dreamlike

...

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( click on the live motion link below to get that lovely crackling fire sound ?)

 

On cold winter nights like these

When flaming hues of orange and red 

flicker and sway upon the walls 

of a darkened room

 

The past can find its way back

 

Seeping out of cracks, long-since filled

Through floorboards, long-since replaced

Soft and hushed, 

ingrained in the periphe...

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The Christmas lights were dim

But, not as dim as Tim

Who opened all the doors

To let more light in! ?

 

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A brand new anthology of Christmas poems has been launched as a Facebook project.

‘A Mersey Christmas’  features work by local poets who frequent the spoken word poetry circuits around Birkenhead and Liverpool, and is available to read free.

Curated by Wirral poets Barry Woods and Michelle Wright the collection is their fourth creative writing project and a Christmas gift to the people of th...

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Tommy the turkey was tired totally tired, it's true as his tribe  - being tremendously tasty - tended to top the menu   Tom started out pretty tranquil He was quite the traditional type But rightfully got in a temper at some of that thanksgiving hype   He seemed to ge...

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One whole year's

time emptied

Like lace leaves

 

From the cold trees

Skeletal wisps

You are missing 

attic tinsel 

 

Boxed deep and dusting

With bristles flaking

From the broken spine

So no silver lines 

Our crisp, black-branched pine.

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Christmas fairy lights still dangle,
Plastic string of neon candles,
Hallowing the wreckage of the year.

Streaming ‘River’ on repeat
River Warbling marrow-deep

Wash away those spiteful, December bones.

From jigsaws sat on nickel knees
To whisky-nursing you in sprees,
Femurs first you left us piece by piece.

Frailty distils the waters
Trickles down through all your daughters

...

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Just think of how the advert might have gone
Retired but not yet tired?
Got a few evenings spare?
Must enjoy outdoor activities
Uniform supplied.

Conscientious sleigh driver not afraid of heights
Must be kind to children
Good with animals,
Sense of humour required.

Perks of Job: Secluded accomodation,
World wide travel at the drop of a hat,
Guaranteed to keep you young at heart
And...

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My wish this Christmas 

is faith replaces fear.

 

Loneliness gives way 

to cheer. 

 

Gratitude 

trumps despair. 

 

Children play

in open air.

 

Loss is not in vain.

 

Love spreads faster 

than a pandemic train.

 

Wishes multiple. 

 

Glimpses of paradise 

in every day life, 

remind us why 

we are alive. 

 

# # #

What’s your ...

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