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.