Young Writers Society

Incoming! Holiday Poetry Contest!


Write a poem about a winter holiday! Wether that’s a lyrical poem about Christmas, or a free verse about Hanukkah, it’s up to you! And if you don’t celebrate a holiday, feel free to write a poem about the beginning of winter, or New Year’s Day! All poems should be submitted by 1/1/2023


First Place: 100 points and a haiku from yours truly!
Second Place: 50 points and a haiku from yours truly!
Third Place: 50 points!

Here's my entry!

Solstice Thoughts

Winter solstice
makes me miss
the autumn moon
that left too soon.

Quiet town
is feather down;
end of year
lurking fear.

Sweeter flour
and less dour
are twilight walks
where no one talks,

stuffed with mooncake
the treats we take
for granted in
the mid-year din.

Now we drink stew,
disquiets brew,
our thoughts steep,
dark and deep.

hiccups on New Year's Eve

this year has been a hiccup: unintentional, a rush of air out of my lungs, a sound caught in my vocal chords that isn't quite utterable. a repetitive loop of inhaling, holding my breath, and drinking water upside down, because even when i know it will not work, it is still nice to feel proactive.

this year has been a hiccup: the result of some ancient evolutionary strategy that holds no meaning now. an empty promise from my gilled ancestors that i am equipped for everything life has to throw at me if everything is water.

i tell myself this as i swig bubbly champagne, waiting to ring the new year in. even as i know that carbonated drinks give me hiccups, i tell myself: i will be stronger this year. i tell myself: i will say the words that get knotted into my vocal chords. i will not hold my breathe around the people i love. i will be intentional. and i tell myself: even if i do not do these things, i will drink water and forgive myself.

Here's a Christmas poem from me! :]

Oh Bethlehem dove,
who followed the star
do you know this is God
born from heaven above?

How far did you fly?
Across mountains and hills,
through darkness, through shadow,
to be where He lies.

Oh Savior who rests,
humble infant, mighty king,
do you know what awaits
that you will beat death?

How far did you come?
Across heaven and hell,
from Adam to Abraham,
Jesse’s tree bore God’s son.

Oh Savior, Emmanuel,
born to save the world,
we who have met you,
now must go and tell!

Oh Bethlehem dove,
who followed the star
you have found the holy place
where God sealed his love.

this is not a transformation

they want to know at what point a sunrise is risen,
and how long it takes the moon to set
in precise seconds.

I don't know.

Only that, at some point, I noticed
the moon hanging lower,
growing fatter,
kissing colder,
and parted my lips to ask
if she was feeling alright

and then someone lost in a champagne bubble leaned
.......into my ear and whispered,
"One more minute to midnight."

how do i throw away
the old calendar
and put up the unlived one

in its pages
you created your destiny

[your birthday
your appointments
your reminders to call
me]

december flashes out
and tomorrow
you will create another destiny
better than the last.