Young Writers Society

First of December

It's the first of December,
Now Christmas is drawing near
And I can't help but remember
Although it's a time of cheer
Roasting chestnuts on an open fire
Was never meant to be
And it's more like a funeral pyre
That floats up the chimney.
Guilt chokes up my lungs
While putting lights on the house
I pause on the ladder rungs
Instead of lighting, I'd rather douse.
I remember things I've never used
All the songs I never got to sing
My past and present have never fused;
You can't make something out of nothing.
This year I wanted to try and be better-
That's generally how it goes-
I'll try to remember the first Christmas letter
And the very first time it snows.

December^2

I'm not one
For all that "holiday romance"-
Unless you mean
My love with hot chocolate
And lying in the snow;
Walks on a winter's day,
Giving presents away,
Rides in the sleigh
(That I don't really have).
But it's nice to talk with someone
To watch the trees
Grow bare together
In the month of December
(And Christmas is
Coming on soon).
When I finally have time to think
And to speak those thoughts aloud
In the cold, crisp air
My words are shown
In a white puff as I exhale,
A question.

D-E-C • 1-2-3

The Christmas season
Is a paradox in itself.
The key is tradition,
Celebration, life lessons,
Memories,
Things that last
And stand the test
Of time.
But everything is changing fast
New things happen every moment
Suddenly bits
Of familiar things seem strange
And out of place,
Out of time.
I guess they'll become memories too.
December is a rush,
Try to get everything done,
So no one else notices.
But I stand still
Silent in the roar
And I see the differences
Between the years.

Four December

There are some days
Where I plant my feet in the ground
And let my head rise above
The holiday bustle
And see things from another view.
I see myself down there,
Working and slacking
In an endless cycle with all the others
"Trying to get through the season"
It's our motto every year.
Down there all I see are
Endless rinds and everyone is
Sorting through them,
Judging them,
Looking only at them.
Up here I have the tangerine,
Bare,
Soft and sweet and juicy
So why doesn't anyone join me?
I leap back down
Into my body
And try to share the tangerine
With everyone I know
But they only think of
Money transactions
Spending buying consuming
While I realise why we have
Christmas at all.

12.5 December Decimals

Some days, I want to shun the season
Abandon Christmas for no reason
As if I can't accept the kindness
When it's so easy to love with blindness.
But it only takes another's love
Something I know that comes from above
And I know that someone needs me too
Just as I am loved and I love you.
On those days when I just need a hug
Or some hot chocolate in warm mug
When no one is there to wipe my tears
And no one cares to calm all my fears
I don't have to do it all, not now,
But it's Christmas- I should try somehow.

12/6 • today is one half December

I have to count the fractions
Each lap I run around the track
To make sure I keep going,
And I feel like me life is also
Running in circles
And if I count out of order,
Everything spins apart.
Every time it's about to explode
I hold it all together with
The sheer force of my will.
This is what Christmas is for us-
Try to keep it up a little longer,
Pull together and scrape up
A little more glue to unite it all.
And we find there's enough to go around
We can all work a little harder,
Hang on a little longer,
Dig a little deeper.
It's a renewal of spirit, and trust,
A collection of oddities that
Make a beautiful whole.

Decembe~7

The air snaps through my hair
It snags at my face and pulls it off
It's a day of ice
Which crackles under my boots,
The boots I feel safe and warm in
Making a solid sound when they
Connect with the ground,
They connect me with the ground
So I don't float away in this wind.
The snow is harder, as if even it
Cannot weather it's own storm
It is crisp and crunchy underfoot.
When my lips begin to crack
And my hands take on
The texture of dry paper
I know it's Christmas time.

d e c e m b e r
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

If I could travel back in time-
Now wouldn't that just be sublime?-
I would tell myself how to cope
Of everything, I would give hope
For what's to come is not so bad
Just don't think about what you had.
Living in the past hurts your heart
Because you can't change how you start
It's really best to live right now
And it will all work out somehow.
This is the true Christmas spirit
If only your ears will hear it.

December9

Things are gliding right along
I drive through a sea of
Christmas lights and
House decorations,
Everyone's getting ready.
But I'm already ready, I was
Born ready, as they say.
Off in my own land where
Time stands still, and there's
Nothing to be done,
No reason to rush,
Just living life.
And so I stand still
And yet move along with all the rest
I face my problems as they come
And try to show the rest
What I've come to realize;
They'll need to discover it
In their own due time.

Deca=10

Things are good; things are great
Christmas is coming
And I cannot wait.
The cold outside is numbing
My hands freeze on the wheel
And my parents look at me
Like I'm growing up for real.
It's something that I never see
Like siblings growing up with each other
I've never had siblings before
So it's just my father and mother
And me- Now I close the car door
And buckle my seatbelt, turn the key
I turn on the lights, I glance to the side
With my license, I guess I'm free
And it's going to be one heck of a ride.

11/12 (almost there December)

This month isn't a chore,
Though everyone makes it seem so
It's about fun and love and family
Not "getting things done
Before Christmas hits".
Before Christmas hits?
It's already here!
You haven't been noticing
And you chastise me for
Misusing my "abundance of free time"
I'd say you're misusing it,
Focusing on the work,
Things to do, things done
All the movies we "have to watch
Before Christmas"
Why?
They're a part of Christmas,
Good and fun and celebratory.
They aren't a necessity,
They aren't a to do,
Christmas isn't a chore.

12-12 The Decembereth of December

We're coming to the snow covered peak
The top of this annual hill
And now that we've come to the top,
We're about to take a tumble
Down through January, February, March
No incentive, let yourself go
The river will carry you-
Or your remains, all the same.
But for now, we're on top
For Christmas is nigh.

12 + 13 = Christmas

If the joy is in the journey,
Then I must say
That some people are trying too hard
To kill my joy;
They tell me the product matters most,
They tell me that others are watching, judging,
That I can't afford to take my time
And enjoy the ride.
But I'm my own person-
I find my own way, my own time,
I live my own life.
Especially with Christmas coming on
They shouldn't do this to me.
So I let my deepest insides come out:
It's like pretending to be
Someone you're not, putting on a false face,
But different.
This time, I'm putting on the face
Of someone rarely seen
But is deeply rooted within me
You'll see how kind and forgiving
I can be.
It's my best self, but I rarely let it out;
I suppose others don't either.
I have to make my own journey a good one
And help the others too,
Because the biggest misjudgement
Is that you are
Alone.

12/14 ~ 6/7 December June

It's 6 degrees outside
And we aren't thinking of winter
As we ride in the car,
Drive from house to house
It's almost Christmas
But we're trapped in our
Fantasyland,
Our dreams which will never come true
But we have to keep believing.
Forget the real world for a spell,
Forget December, November,
All the way back
Let's go to June
When things were warm and good
And everything was simple.
It's always simple in the past tense.
And one day,
This moment will be
In a different tense too.

12:15 Halfway through December

It's halfway through
And suddenly all of the
Past illusions clear-
I see it's much harder than I thought.
I've got to push forward,
Push past,
Because what I did I did
And what I haven't done
I still have time to do
If I put my priorities first
(Yes, that's the key).
Funny thing about keys,
I like finding other ways in...
But that usually results in a
Broken window and
Shattered glass on the floor;
We can't have that this time
I've got to do it right
It's not too late.
It's never too late.
It's halfway through
December
But only ten days left until
Christmas.
It's coming.