Christmas Poetry

Poem are generally short and packed with lots of colorful images which create instant sensory connections. For me, the Christmas season has always been a special time for writing poetry.

I can remember in 6th grade we spent one afternoon fashioning Christmas cards with an accompanying poem. Of course, I loved combining my two favorite pass times-- writing and art. I made one Christmas card after another. Once I had an image in mind--like the Christmas star or holly or even a candy cane--I would write the poem to go with the picture.

Why don't you give it a try? Your poem doesn't need to rhyme, but it can. That will make it a bit tougher--more of a challenge--but a fun one. Think of capturing feelings, pictures of a time and place with your words.

And poetry is a great place to play with words--not only rhymes, but alliteration (when words in a row start with the same letter--Sam said silly stuff.)

And don't forget about similes--comparing one thing to another using "like" or "as." The stars glistened as bright as 4th of July fireworks. Metaphors use similar comparisons but leave out the "as" or "like." Even the cat's candy cane curled tail reminded me of Christmas sweets.

Here is a link to one of my Christmas poems. How about a Christmas challenge--one new Christmas poem each day now until the 25th!

Ready, set, write!