Twelvetide Poemry 25/Dec/18 to 6/Jan/19

… and for my final trick following hot on the heels of my Advent adventures the complete  Twelvetide instapoems each written and posted on the day dated here, with an eXtra special epiphanal for those who have the patience to stay course of all twelve and watch the credits roll…….

 

Twelvetide Poems: on the first day 25/Dec/18

on the first day of Christmas
I thought I saw a bee,
it couldn’t be,
it’s winter.

Twelvetide Poems: on the second day 26/Dec/18

on the second day of Christmas
I sat under the tree
needles, needles everywhere
in my bum and in my hair!

Twelvetide Poems: on the third day 27/Dec/18

on the third day of Christmas
I watched another re-run
of another re-run
of another re-run
of a movie re-run every year.

Twelvetide Poems: on the fourth day 28/Dec/18

on the fourth day of Christmas
I wondered why
the Brussels Sprouts
were staring
most accusingly at me.

Twelvetide Poems: on the fifth day 29/Dec/18

on the fifth day of Christmas
was still waiting for the snow,
am still waiting
still waiting
still
waiting for the snow.

Twelvetide Poems: on the sixth day 30/Dec/18

on the sixth day of Christmas
was starting to lose count
and wondered why
I had no partridge nor no turtle doves
nor hens, not French or otherwise
no calling birds nor golden rings
which would have come in handy
nor any geese a-laying
as I
had now
long run
out of eggs…

Twelvetide Poems: on the seventh day 31/Dec/18

on the seventh day of Christmas
I still had no more eggs
but I did have Brussels sprouts,
expectantly,
accusingly,
staring back at me.

Twelvetide Poems: on the eighth day 1/Jan/19

on the eighth day of Christmas
‘twas the first of the new year
as dead a-ringer
it was too
the one I left behind.

Twelvetide Poems: on the ninth day 2/Jan/19

on the ninth day of Christmas
I stared into a winter sky
with daylight thin
upon the ground
the sun refused
to hang around.

Twelvetide Poems: on the tenth day 3/Jan/19

on the tenth day of Christmas
a robin sang a dawning song
the blackbird rang
the harmony,
the wren sang counterpoint.

Twelvetide Poems: on the eleventh day 4/Jan/19

on the eleventh day of Christmas
I couldn’t find a single word
to rhyme with eleventh,
until I tried
elephant
which clearly doesn’t work.

Twelvetide Poems: on the twelfth night 5/Jan/19

on the twelfth day of Christmas
I walked upon the end of time
and found the sound of tourmaline.

that special eXtra at the end………

Twelvetide: epiphanied (6/Jan/18)

I spy with my little eye
an epiphany rushing by
I blinked and when
I unblinked
it was gone
and left me with
a scrambled rhyme
“how inconsiderate”,
I thought,
then sat
and sipped
a cup of tea.

© 2019 robert greig

Advertisements

Advent Poemling 2018: the one that got away

the car wore a tree
a Christmas tree no less
it was a Mini,
not the tree
the car,
the car was a Mini
and the tree was all
maybe,
eight feet long,
meanwhile
the Mini was white
which made it look like
a narwhal in reverse.

© 2018 robert greig

Advent Calendar Poemlings – the second twelve

As a special treat (?!), the Second Twelve Poemlings of my Advent adventure posted at the time in December 2018 but here now for a glimpse back……

13/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

sitting here thinking
staring at stars
waiting for something
to make me surprised
I still don’t feel Christmassy
clearly need sleep
so why
oh why
am I still wide awake
although it’s not late;
sitting here staring
making up stars
pointing precisely
where one used to be
but now it’s not there
gone out
gone out
gone out like a light
it feels like a sleight
a trick of the eye,
still don’t feel Christmassy
clearly need sleep
I seem to have been here before…

14/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

Christmas clamours
clattering
scattering its tat
advocating greed
via ‘feed me, feed me’ card machines
contactless
it’s easier
and saves you time
to spend more time
to spend upon more greed.

15/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

I found a button on the path
it was red
has Santa been this way?
I imagine he’d be wanting it back.

16/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

“oh so many things”
the snowman sighed
“to use for my nose
and yet you chose…
a carrot!”

17/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

what has tinsel
got to do
with Christmas?
it’s everywhere
like a parasite
or secret
all and sundry share
but me,
I’ve not a clue
why tinsel’s here
and tinsel’s there
in buttonholes
and in their hair
draped on trees,
windows, walls,
even seen
on traffic cones,
and I will bet
without a doubt
that should you ask
no single soul
will neither
either have a clue.

18/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

“I wish it could be Christmas everyday”
so the song refrains,
what a nightmare!
just imagine
that to be your fate..
everyday!

19/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

ah, the Christmas letter
such a strange tradition,
so-called, though
as I seem
to have no life
I might as well
just live the lives of others.

20/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

Christmas calling
crawling closer
creeping into every step
spilling out of every shop
slumping out from every bar
flashing down from every house
whose Christmas lights
assails the eyes
and bleed the senses dry.

21/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Solstice Poemling

the shortest day
it may be
though one should not be heightist,
the longest night,
apparently,
it’s said to be the Solstice,
so that’s the short
and the long of it
the up and down
the left and right
the outside in
and out of it
the shortest day,
the longest night,
as winter does
and winter will
always,
always have its way..

 

22/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

behind the till
it seems to me
they’ve probably forgot
they’re wearing antlers,
and yet,
I notice no one notice
nor bat an eyelid,
second glance,
at their strange attire
as though
this is normal
everyday
normal to wear antlers;
I suppose
if you’re a reindeer
it is;
behind another till
another donning antlers
also unaware they’re there,
I suppose the others
must be somewhere else
pulling Santa
and his beard
on his sleigh.

23/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

another candle
for another day
for another someone
I didn’t even know
who died today
I don’t know where
I don’t know when exactly
I don’t know why, what for,
but I lit a candle anyway
I don’t know if it helped
I lit a candle anyway
put it on a shelf
I lit a candle anyway
and there’s more
still in the drawer
but they’ll be for
another day
this I know
for sure.

24/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

once upon a long ago
I wandered tales of ice and snow
that hid the worst of our mistakes
to leave a winter carpetscape,
white a world so undefined
leaves a silence unrefined
crystallising every breath
filling in my every step;

here is when the time began
now is where it stopped;

once upon a long ago
I told you everything I know
or maybe not quite everything
some have been sequestered
by the wind;

here is when the end began
now is where is stopped.

© 2018 robert greig

Advent Calendar Poemlings – the first twelve…

As a special treat (?!), the First Twelve Poemlings of my Advent adventure posted at the time in December 2018 but here now for a glimpse back……

1/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

Christmas decorations
lining the street
just one on every other lamp
an exercise in neat
and minimal restraint
as though Christmas it ain’t.

2/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

as if clowns weren’t scary enough
here comes Santa
with his beard like a billy-goat gruff,
a ho-ho and red nose
and bag full of suspicious stuff.

3/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

december already?
my calendar’s run out of pages
and although Christmas
comes but once
a year
it feels
like it’s been here
for ages.

4/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

how big can a chocolate bar get?
while some grow smaller
others expand exponentially,
well,
you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet,
as christmas draws closer
bars become bricks, become blocks
become so vast that
it won’t
fit in
to your trolley.

5/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

can’t think of what to get
for that special someone?
look no further
the perfect gift
is staring you in the face
(literally!):
sponsor an elf!
for a mere five pounds
yes, that’s five English pounds
would pay for their hat,
pointy of course,
their suit and their boots,
also pointy of course,
in their favourite green;
the look on the face of
that special someone
will just be a sight
to behold
when they find that you’ve
sponsored an elf
in their name;
so sponsor an elf,
you know it makes sense
they’ll love it I’m sure,
I’m sure yes I’m sure,
I think I’m sure
most probably sure
most probably almost maybe sure.

6/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

Christmas earworms
give me heartburn
christmas earworms
give me heartburn
as does
one more
mince pie.

7/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

man carries Christmas tree
far too big
and like an unruly child
it tries to escape
in an equally unruly wind.

8/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

Christmas calling
crawling closer
bleeding into every step
falling out of every shop
drunk on eggnog
drunk on greed,
hinting through October
seeping through November
racing through December
tripping over Sales,
secret Santas, office parties,
food banks, homelessness,
credit cards to slash and burn
so much more
than what you earn,
Christmas crawling
falling on its knees.

9/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemling

crowds gather
bated breaths
waiting for the Christmas lights,
anticipation
not quite yet,
five
four
three
two
one!
click,
on.

10/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemlings

don’t eat the yellow snow
that’s if it snows at all,
and don’t be fooled
by random raisins,
they be reindeer poo.

11/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemlings

what makes you think
I want to eat more
just because it’s Christmas;
what makes you think
I want to drink more
just because it’s Christmas;
what makes you think
I want to buy more
just because it’s Christmas;
what makes you think
I want more and more
just because it’s Christmas?

12/Dec/18 Advent Calendar Poemlings

robins
and reindeer
penguins
and polar bears
incomprehensibly
building a snowman;
one will poo on him,
one will stare,
one will live in him
and one,
the bear,
will just lick his lips
and think
dinner!

© 2018 robert greig

grey shift

© 2018 robert greig  (grey shift)

line three

© 2018 robert greig  (line three)