5 Holiday Poems and More to Bring Magic this Season

‘Tis the season to be happy and go fa-la-la-la… So, I bring you five beautiful holiday poems and quotes and more to bring magic to the season. Whether you’re lighting candles, decking the halls, or simply basking in the warmth of loved ones, there’s a poem here to bring a little sparkle to your festivities.

And keeping my previous post in mind, I’ve made sure to include poems that celebrate a variety of traditions and holidays around this time of the year. Let’s embrace the joy, togetherness, and wonder of the holidays!

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5 Holiday Poems and More to Bring Magic to the Season

Here are the holiday poems I promised – featuring everything from the Whirling Dervishes to Santa Claus.

Whirling Dervish Ceremony

As I mentioned in my earlier post, this ceremony pays homage to the Sufi saint and poet Rumi. (Dec 7 – 17, 2024)

Dance when you’re broken open.
Dance when you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance when you’re perfectly free.
~Rumi

Kwanzaa

In featuring this poem, I wanted to see how it shows the spirit of Kwanzaa, and learned more about the seven principles in the process. (Also another salute to Giovanni, who died December 9, 2024)

Nikki Giovanni’s poem about Rosa Parks aligns closely with these principles, particularly Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), as it celebrates Parks’ steadfast refusal to accept injustice and her courage to take control of her own narrative.

Parks’ act inspired Ujima (collective action), Umoja(uniting the community) and Nia (purpose) in the fight for civil rights. Also, Giovanni’s powerful words in tribute to Parks themselves are a reflection of the principle of Kuumba (Creativity).

Rosa Parks by Nikki Giovanni. You can read this powerful poem via the link (to Poetry Foundation), or in her powerhouse collection – Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea. I talk about it here. An excerpt of the poem is below:

…and it
was Mrs. Rosa Parks who could not stand that death. And in not
being able to stand it. She sat back down.

~ Nikki Giovanni, Rosa Parks

Hanukkah

For this, I bring you Emma Lazarus’s The Feast of Lights. Here is an excerpt below:

Kindle the taper like the steadfast star
Ablaze on evening’s forehead o’er the earth,
And add each night a lustre till afar
An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth.

~ Emma Lazarus, The Feast of Lights

A cool fact about Emma Lazarus: her poem The New Colossus is etched at the base of the Statue of Liberty. The iconic lines—”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”—are practically as famous as Lady Liberty herself!

St. Lucy’s Day

Read more about this day here. St. Lucia, or Lucy, was a fourth-century martyr from Italy whose name comes from the Latin word lux, meaning “light.” Back before the Gregorian calendar shook things up in 1582 (Great Britain and the American colonies hopped on board in 1752), her feast day fell on the shortest day of the year. This gave rise to the saying,

“Lucy light, Lucy light; Shortest day and longest night.”

St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated with special flair in Italy and Sweden. In Sweden, tradition calls for the oldest (or sometimes youngest) daughter to wear a crown of burning candles and wake the family with coffee and St. Lucia buns—those delightful saffron-flavored sweet rolls. (source)

If you have a poem to share about this day, please do let me know.

Christmas

While Christmas brings to mind way too many poems, I found this one sweet and short and underrated too.

After a thoughtful, almost painful pause,
Bub sighed, “I’m sorry fer old Santy Claus:—
They wuz no Santy Claus, ner couldn’t be,
When he wuz ist a little boy like me!”

~ James Whitcomb Riley, Christmas Afterthought

Also be sure to read Riley’s A Christmas Memory (while Afterthought had me smiling, Memory had me teary-eyed)

The Bookish Five

A Very Indian Christmas (Has one holiday poem within at least)

A Very Indian Christmas: The Greatest Indian Holiday Stories of All Time (Very Christmas) by various

Book Description: This anthology celebrates the unique magic of Christmas in India and its diaspora through a vibrant collection of essays, stories, poems, and hymns. Showcasing works by renowned authors like Rabindranath Tagore, Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri, and others, it explores festive traditions across India, blending food, music, lights, prayer, and family joy into a richly diverse tapestry.

(1 & 2) Book Beginnings and First Line Friday

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

3 Friday 56

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice (currently by Anne at HeadFullofBooks) To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up and visit others in the linky.

4 Book Blogger Hop

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.

20th-26th – In December, many people like snuggling up with a nice book and a warm beverage. What kind of reading environment do you prefer during the winter?

Warm and cozy with some hot tea (chai or peppermint or … )

For last week’s prompt of books to get you in the holiday spirit, I had an answer ready (though a repetition), so here it is: If I have to pick just one: then I would pick Little Women (again – same as for last week, I know), and also adding on a short story with The Gift of the Magi. But then again, I have compiled many lists of holiday favorites (see in the next section)

5 Listicles of Seasonal Favorites

And Now, the End of this Post

Dear reader, which of these holiday poems could become your favorite? What about the book? Would you pick that or another in the series for yourself or a loved one this holidays? What is your current read? And your favorite holiday read? And last but not the least, which are your favorite holiday poems?

Lady In Read Writes

A Blog(ful) Of Niches