Poetry For Christmas by Orna Ross @OrnaRoss BLOG TOUR #RandomThingsTours #PoetryForChristmas

Whether you’re marking the Christian Christmas, the Chinese Dongzhi, the Jewish Hannukah, the Hindi Makaraa Sankrānti, the Irish Meán Geimhridh, or any other mid-winter festival, the hibernal solstice is a celebration of rebirth and renewal. 

The ever-present potential for beginning anew, as signified by the return of light, is the theme of this chapbook. In it, you'll find a poem for each of the twelve days of this season when the days start to get longer again, that will encourage you to rejoice, reflect and recharge.  

Dark nights, lamp or candlelight, and fireside flames in a quiet room provide the perfect conditions for deep and transformative reading. 

Reconnect with the wonder of the world-- and of those with whom you share it—through the powerful pleasure of inspirational poetry.

Poetry For Christmas and Other Beginnings by Orna Ross is a collection of twelve inspirational poems for deep mid-winter.

I'm delighted to share one of the poems with you today, as part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour

Christmas Rain

In the year’s dying days,

rainfall once again is falling,

failing to freeze, to become snow. 

No white Christmas again this year,

just the falling, failing rain

as silent, I overheard you say, 

as a Christmas suicide.

What a chilling line. 

I know it hurts your soul, 

this ceaseless raining on the town

and on the fields of forest trees 

raised for the season, 

spruce and cedar, pine and fir, 

grown to be cut down. 

No sooner born than dying, 

you said, and reminded us again, 

lest we forget, about the ill, 

the afraid and the alone. 

Well yes, we must do what we can

but the trees die, it also must be said,

in the cause of life: 

faith and hope 

and charity

friends and fun 

and family 

hymns and prayers 

and superfluity 

of food and drink and gifts. 

And now, whatever we might think,

it’s time to loop bright pearls of light 

and tinsel round the waiting bough, 

to decorate its needle-leaves, 

hang bauble globes of colour 

from its stalky branches, 

and top off the confection

with a sharply-pointed star. 

Then to step outside 

into the sodden air

and join the heaving crowds

to add our input 

to the manic ring 

of goods and money 

changing hands.

I am not blind to what that brings, 

but, my dear, is it not also true 

that in the spangled homes, 

the valiant trees are letting loose 

their scent of pine and fir?

And the weary world is waking

to the light returning

for another year? 

And look, 

can it be the rain is slowing, 

growing plump and white? 

Oh, let’s indulge the throb of hope. 

Let’s inhale, while we still can, 

the joy within 

the sparkly season’s 

glistening. 

Let’s taste the love

that is contained 

in the illuminating rain

    ORNA ROSS is an award-winning writer, an advocate for independent authors and other creative entrepreneurs, and “one of the 100 most influential people in publishing” [The Bookseller]. She writes novels, poems and nonfiction guides for creatives, and is Founder-Director of two popular online communities, the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and The Creativist Club. She lives in London and writes, publishes and teaches around the globe. When not writing, you'll probably find her reading.

Website : http://www.ornaross.com/

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