Christmas Together - Twelve Poems for Those We Love

'Instead of a Card' is the idea behind the British publisher Candlestick Press' range of gorgeous small poetry pamphlets. With covers created by leading contemporary artists and poems hand-picked to speak to every kind of reader, all their titles offer a richly rewarding reading journey.  Pamphlets are supplied with an envelope for posting and a bookmark for a special message. 

This volume -

Christmas together… It sounds almost ordinary but it’s something we’ve come to appreciate all over again in recent times. These delightful poems celebrate shared moments – from the mayhem of a kitchen full of steam and chaos to carols sung around the fire after dark.

And of course “together” means more than merely being in the same house at the same time.  The anthology also touches on the ways in which memory can unite us with departed loved ones and celebrates those special moments which restore recognition and joy when memory falls short:

“Eyes close, candlelight strokes her face
and oh the Christmas tree, the sparkle of it

then awake, searching, as if she could find
her way home in the depth of her family’s eyes.”

from ‘Born This Happy Morning’ by Christina Buckton

Poems by Bill Adair, Kate Bass, Christina Buckton, Jeanette Burton, Tony Curtis, UA Fanthorpe, Robert Hamberger, Nathalie Handal, Corinna Keefe, Lorraine Mariner, WS Merwin and Maureen Richardson.  Cover illustration by Hilke MacIntyre.

Candlestick Press | 2021 | Paperback | 28 pages | 21 x 13.7 x 0.3cm | 70g