These ten specially commissioned poems celebrate the joy of Christmas in all its variety.
 
Some evoke the bustle of untangling fairy lights, of shopping and cooking and opening presents, while others celebrate our more ancient seasonal traditions, such as collecting holly and ivy to bring into the house.
 
And then, of course, there’s the mistletoe:
 
“I want to cry out, as Frigga did,
to the air and birds and new-found tenderness of
the world…
…Come, stand with me beneath these white berries of love.
Let me hold you, kiss you.”
from ‘The Golden Bough’ by Rosie Jackson
 
The poems remind us that amid the inevitable hurly burly there’s always time to pause and savour quiet moments.
This joyful and heart-warming selection is guaranteed to add a sprinkle of beauty and delight to every Christmas.
 
Poems by Fleur Adcock, Jo Brandon, Martin Figura, Seán Hewitt, Phil Houghton, Rosie Jackson, L Kiew, Theophilus Kwek, Katrina Porteous and James Sheard.
 
Cover illustration by Louise Slater.