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Since it was all about a son<\/strong><\/p>\n I ask my son now that he doesn\u2019t really believe in everything there is still a hole in the roof to follow a star through warm and sleepy he stretches out his body because you wear I ask him does that make you just right <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Laura McKee<\/strong> knows the handwriting of all the elves but doesn’t have the teeth for sellotape. Find her spearing the Turkish Delight, or on Twitter: @Estlinin and newly hatched on Instagram: @pretendpoet1<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n The sun god has come home We welcome him, hug him, call him home The cold huddles in blankets on the empty platform He sleeps deep, now, shh, the house all quiet When morning comes, he stretches, a maharaja in lambskin Awakening at last, to a grim noise at the back of his head Behind us, the battered radio whispers, silent night, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amlanjyoti Goswami<\/strong>\u2019s poems have been published in India, Nepal, Hong Kong, the UK, USA, South Africa, Kenya and Germany, including the anthologies, 40 under 40: An Anthology of Post Globalisation Poetry\u00a0(<\/em>Poetrywala) and\u00a0A Change of Climate<\/em>\u00a0(Manchester Metropolitan University, Environmental Justice Foundation and the University of Edinburgh).\u00a0His poems have also appeared on street walls of Christchurch, exhibitions in Johannesburg and buses in Philadelphia. He grew up in Guwahati, Assam and lives in Delhi.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Cormorant<\/strong><\/p>\n I open and there’s a cormorant no doubt after crayfish surfaces has evil been charmed quick says the bird one shot <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gareth Writer-Davies<\/strong>: Shortlisted for the Bridport Prize (2014 and 2017)\u00a0 Commended Prole Laureate Competition (2015) Prole Laureate (2017) Commended Welsh Poetry Competition (2015) Highly Commended (2017)\u00a0 His collection The Lover’s Pinch (<\/em>Arenig Press) published \u00a02018. He is a Hawthorndon Fellow for 2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n *the cormorant was an early Christian symbol, resembling a cross as it dried its wings<\/p>\n ** as a side note, last Christmas I saw a cormorant on Christmas Day in the river at the back of my house. Haven\u2019t seen one before or since\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since it was all about a son I ask my son now that he doesn\u2019t really believe in everything what\u2019s Christmas all about then? I mean what does it mean to you? there is still a hole in the roof to follow a star through but we have just had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-2018"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18029"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18124,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18029\/revisions\/18124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwhat\u2019s Christmas all about then? I mean what does it mean to you?<\/p>\n
\nbut we have just had the boiler fixed<\/p>\n
\nand his answer\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 er\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 er \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 er\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 cold\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 but warm<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t mean just you
\nbut you wear
\nway too many layers of clothing<\/p>\n
\nor too warm then
\ntoo warm he says assertively
\nhalf asleep and fully a wise man<\/p>\n
\nmore a viking than pastor<\/p>\n
\nThe last train has reached the station<\/p>\n
\nWe make our way in the dark<\/p>\n
\nWatched carefully, in turns, by those kind spirits<\/p>\n
\nAnd lolls about the duvet till evening<\/p>\n
\nCollege is over, over, over, and no job is in sight<\/p>\n
\nAnd hope is baked in tiny morsels that have come to stay<\/p>\n
\nthe window on Christmas Day<\/p>\n
\nmoving like a snake beneath the water<\/p>\n
\nthe bird makes mind-bending turns (against the current)<\/p>\n
\nlike an iron ship recovering its buoyancy after long submersion<\/p>\n
\ninto the birds turquoise eye and the haught of his feathers<\/p>\n
\nleaping onto the wash stones and spreading his wings<\/p>\n
\nand I am gone for ever<\/p>\n