Whether it’s ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ or ‘Away in a Manger’ we all have a song, carol or tune that heralds the arrival of the festive season.
 
Music seems to offer a miraculous short-cut to memories of happy times.
 
The selection takes us on a magical journey from “frosty voices of December stars” to a band of carol-singers “with weary limb” longing to find someone who will open the door and listen. We find voices lifted at the darkest time of the year, offering their own particular light:
 
“After long silence, there is music again,
thin lip of moon and again bright stars,
the weeds, safe now in their coffins of ice,
in singing weather.”
 
from ‘In Singing Weather’ by Maggie Anderson
 
We hope these poems will fill your Christmas with just the right amount of comfort and joy.
 
Poems by Maggie Anderson, Hayden Carruth, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Frances Ridley Havergal, Oliver Herford, Lorraine Mariner, Adrian Mitchell, Edwin Morgan, Christina Rossetti and Marjorie Wilson.
 
Cover illustration by Niki Bowers.
Donation to Our Dementia Choir.