Welcome all, to the first issue of ‘The Chapters.’
In this issue, we celebrate all elements of Christmas through poetry.
Nestled within the pages are poems inspired by Christmas traditions, frosty settings and the joy surrounding this festive season.
As the days start to get colder and frost begins to blanket the grass, we hope to warm your hearts with these festive poems.
By Amna Hussain
My velvet nose pressed against starlit glass, I count the ways heaven touches Earth:
One - snowflakes (God's sugar-dust, surely!)
Two - crystal tears on my window friend (the frost-fairy!)
Three - the golden dome where angels sleep
Matryoshka dolls dance in window light, Their painted faces telling secrets. I wonder if my red silk bow Makes me pretty as their lacquered smiles?
The streets wear new paint today! Red ribbons flow like Christmas streams, (Though why do mothers clutch their children When the colours touch their shoes?)
Silver birds bring winter musicSuch loud lullabies they sing! The buildings bow to kiss the ground
"Za Rodinu!" they cry
Which must be something lovely, For why else would they shout with such passion?
Iron birds drop silver gifts, Making flowers bloom in snowHow thoughtful, to bring spring early! (Though the flowers are rather loud And make the children cry)
Alittle angel takes me home, Her coat too thin for Russian frost. We ride the striped-door train together, Playing I-spy with her fading light. "Mishka," she whispers, holding tight, "Tell me tales of sweeter nights."
We ride trains for days and days, Playing counting games with stars Through barbed-wire borders.
The camp is full of tired angels, Their wings hidden under striped pyjamas (Do all angels wear stripes in winter?)
Asoldier finds me in the dawn, My red bow keeping secrets safe. "Gospodi pomiluy," he weeps, Upon this holy, broken day.
(His tears taste salt upon my furPerhaps he misses angels too?)
By Amaira Dudeja
Hello, Christmas
Goodbye, Halloween
We forget about Thanksgiving And prepare for the tree!
‘Tis the festive season
We share Christmas puns And on the 20th November
The Christmas decorations are done!
The sweet taste of pudding Lingers in my mouth
I sit on the sofa And everything goes south
The Christmas tree has fallen down
The baubles are on the floor
The mistletoe is on my lap
And the holly is not on the door!
By Stella Yoo
Snowflakes are falling from high heaven. Crisp and sparkling white sand, With everyone’s jolly linked hands, The sound of a harmonious choir, And the biting cold masked by the flickers of fire.
The shining stars sing in silence, But the interrupting three rings of bells, To get rid of Scrooge’s unhealthy spells, Call for spirits from death, They say, “Health is wealth.”
In desire, kids wish for gifts, For the presents. Parents work for their Kids, And when Christmas begins, Love always exists.
The poor listen to the rich, “Now who will fill up the stocking? “Well, who has all the shillings? And where is the roasted beef?
Hurry up, it’s Christmas Eve!”
By Dayun Lee
The crisp, cold air blows, Snowy, frosty, cloudy days, The cycle repeats.
By Dayun Lee
Crisp leaves fly away. Leaving behind empty trees Autumn or winter?
By Stella Yoo
Pure angel’s ice tears, Falls softly on robins, and Fills the star’s content.
By Stella Yoo
Some loving lips touch,
By Autum Williams
Robins on branches, Shivering from the cold air, Waiting for summer.
By Autumn Williams
Frozen pine needles, Red holly piercing deep green, Oaks sheathed in thick white.
By Autumn Williams
Frost on the window, Fire underneath the mantle, Sun hiding away.
By Kiran Bassra
Snow-covered hilltops, Lining the dark horizon On this winter’s night.
By Kiran Bassra
Moulded by these hands, My friend of snow is forméd. Gone tomorrow morn.
By Kiran Bassra
Twinkling lights shine, Entwined between the branches Of the Christmas tree.
By Amna Husain
Sun whispers to Moon across twilight:
"My love, I do not understand Humankind- those who have pressed lips to lips beneath our light, who braid flowers in their hair, who weep at coloured clouds yet sort each other by their shades when they're all made of stardust anyway."
Moon answers soft through starlight:
"I've watched them for ten thousand years, seen how they hold their babies up to see me, all the same way, with that same wonder, no matter what colours they dream in yet they build walls between their hearts that even my tide can't wash away"
The Sea sighs to Shore:
"You and I, so different, dark depths and pale sand, yet we've danced together since time began. Look at them all born crying the same way, all tasting like salt when they weep, all floating the same in my waves why do they forget they're water too?"
Shore whispers back through grains of sand "I’ve held the footprints since they learnt to walk, Watched children of all shades build castles side by side, Then somehow grow to forget, that the sand and sea are siblings too."
Leaves blush at the sight of autumn, and say "We fall in every shade from gold to red to brown, and isn't that what makes the forest floor so beautiful? Why can't they see?"
The wise old trees bend down and murmur: "Such strange, delicate creatures, Look how gentle they can be, get drunk off old fruit, cry at the arrangement of sounds, gather herbs to heal each other, who laugh at the same moon, who all bleed the same red, who all need the same rain."
And all of nature sighs together "Why must things be so complicated? They are all just animals falling in love and having breakfast beneath billions of stars."
