Poetry Friday is HERE: Christmas Haiku and Slippers.

Welcome everyone to Poetry Friday! Today I have the honor of being the host. I hope all of you and your loved ones are finding joy in this holiday season.

What is Poetry Friday? It is explained Here.

Christmas is moving along at my house. Our tree is decorated. 

this young pine's branches
firmly grip fragile treasures--
as if it grew them.

©Janice Scully 2023

I made stollen with my friend, Leah, something we do every year together. 

fresh Christmas stollen,
obviously sprung from snow,
not a hot oven.

© Janice Scully

But, in spite of a tree and baking, this doesn’t feel like an ordinary Christmas now that 2024 is around the corner. I feel unsettled, another word for free floating anxiety.

I wrote another poem, one that does not concern Christmas, but instead, Democracy. 

TAKING DEMOCRACY FOR GRANTED

like slippers
so cleverly made 
that you can’t recall
having cold feet at all, 
 
until one day you jump out
of bed, put on your old slippers
and for the first time 
your feet feel 
the ice-cold kitchen floor!

You stare into the early silence,
vexed with regret  
because you never fixed 
that insidious hole,
           
and now
must replace 
the sole. 

© Janice Scully ©2023 (draft)

Have a happy holiday season! Add your blog to the list below. I look forward to reading them.

I thought I’d try writing an “Elfchen” poem or two this week. On Dec 29, the Poetry Sisters are sharing their “Elfchen” poems and invited the Poetry Friday community to give the form a try. See Tanita’s post Here. I found a description of the Elfchen from Here. It is a short poem, which of course doesn’t mean easy. I hope I’ll have one to share in two weeks.

28 thoughts on “Poetry Friday is HERE: Christmas Haiku and Slippers.”

  1. Tis the season! I enjoyed reading the poems here, Janice, and share your concerns about the current state of our slippers. Geez, I am not even sure what to say any more about the “unsettled” state of the state.

  2. Sweet Christmas poems and I share your anxiety about the state of our union. 2024 promises to be tumultuous with the upcoming election and SO MUCH at stake. Thanks so much for hosting this week!

  3. Delicious and lovely haikus Janice! And I also feel very much on edge with our state of Democracy–How can we help uphold it—Your slipper poem speaks well of this dilemma, thanks for sharing it and also for hosting!

  4. oooooh! What a wonderful post. Sadly, I share that anxiety regarding our Democracy. But, I’m also enjoying the season’s joys. I’m grateful for the fact that Fridays end my work week and I come home to poetry. Thanks so much for hosting! I love the haiku…joyful and winter-y and Christmasy too. Bravo.

  5. Happy Haikuing, Janice. Suitably seasonal verse from you. Festive feelings surround your words. I appreciated the sentiment of your Democracy poem. The notion of taking certain things for granted shone through in your well chosen words. We must remain alert and cherish these important hard fought gains. Great use of analogy added to the impact of your words. Thanks also for hosting, Janice.

  7. Your poems capture all the moods of this season, Janice. I, too, feel the “ice-cold kitchen floor”, I hope we can “replace the sole” in time. Thanks for hosting. 🙂

  8. Thank you, Janice. Your joy in decorating and baking as well as your anxiety in the current state of the state are clear. I hear you and share your concerns and the hope that 2024 brings warmth and hope instead of feeling “the ice-cold kitchen floor.” Like your tree, we must “firmly grip fragile treasures.”

  9. Such Artistry Janice, in each of these three eloquent poems, which are Gifts.
    The last lines of the Christmas haiku’s are sweet surprises.
    And the idea from the slipper sole suggesting to me repair of human soles for Democracy to thrive – I’m in awe of your political eloquence disguised as a little story.

    Appreciations for hosting. I’m still sharing my November post about the new verse novel RUPTURED.
    Happy Christmas to you &. Your Dears.
    Jan/Bookseedstudio
    https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com

  10. Janice, that stollen! I’ve never had that, and it looks so festive. Thank you so much for hosting during this busy Christmas season. xo

  12. Thank you for hosting us, Janice. Your slipper poem speaks straight to my heart. You chose just the right metaphor. Do you subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson’s daily newsletter? Today’s had a tiny bit of hope about some crumbling that needs to crumble…and then (better sooner than later) crash.

    1. I will check out her post. I’d subscribed but stopped getting her newsletters so it’s time to subscribe again. She’s such a good historian and writer!

  13. I thought I had commented, Janice, but perhaps it didn’t go through? I love that you made stollen with a friend, an annual gather between the two of you. And with all the turmoil, you managed to find just the perfect metaphor, the ignoring of that slipper’s hole. Thanks for hosting!

  14. Janice, I enjoyed your Christmas moving along your house thoughts. Baking and decorating are two fond memories of Christmas throughout the years. Thank you for hosting and switching thoughts revolving around old slippers and democracy. We do not need holes in our soles.
    I want to thank you for being my winter poetry swap partner but here is my dilemma. I must have missed the email from Tabatha therefore I am behind the eight ball once again. I have researched ideas that intrigue me and will work as fast as I can amidst the clutter of decorating my home and hosting Christmas dinner for our family and extended family (16 people). Today is a new tree decorating day. Happy Holidays to you. Your gift is so thoughtful! Many thanks.

    1. No worries, Carol. You are not behind the eight ball at all! You couldn’t never be! Enjoy Christmas and don’t worry about it.

  15. Thank you for hosting, Janice! This is a bumper week for you, writing-wise–I love each and every thing you’ve shared. “as if it grew them,” “obviously sprung from snow,” and
    “you can’t recall
    having cold feet at all”!
    Wonderful, all. Merry and bright to you and yours!

  20. Hi Janice! Thanks for hosting. I appreciate both of your poems. The democracy poem is especially apropos’ for today’s world. Thank you for sharing them and a wonderful Holiday Season to you! (Sorry I posted late – I wrote Thursday night but we traveled early Friday and just got home an hour ago.) I figured better late than never!

    1. You’ve been very busy! That quilt I saw on your post is amazing! Congrats too on your publication. A very merry Christmas to you and your family. I look forward to your anthology.

  21. The cold floor and the play of the word sole is such a unique and profound statement about democracy. Thanks for hosting. I am getting around late after a busy weekend.

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