Christmas poetry competition 2023

Now you watch me from above as I Fail to eat Fail to sleep Fail to go even an hour

Where you don’t flood my mind: Thoughts of your bubbling laugh Echoing around our candlelit hall Thoughts of the isolation while sitting on a pew In the black dress you had bought me On our last Christmas together. I never wore it for you Until your only view was from above Looking down at me with what I pray is love. They tell me they understand They look me in the eyes only days after you were taken from me And they tell me they understand my pain That I am not alone. But now they’re busy singing ‘Deck the Hall.’ They’re laughing and screaming ‘Happy Holidays!’ Such a foreign word It leaves a bitter taste on my tongue Because you were the only one With whom I was ever truly myself I was never alone when I was with you But I will be for evermore.

By Heather Young