The Occasional: "The Lanterns Are Here"

The lights are set up, and so are the Christmas decorations. I figured, "Why not write a poem for my favorite holiday?" 

It worked out very well that my poetry form for this week is the "occasional."

Occasional Poetry

    You can definitely guess what this particular poetry style entails. Poets.org states, "An occasional poem is a poem written to document or provide commentary on an event. It is often intended to be read or performed publicly." (2023, n.p.). I remember analyzing one of these in my AP English class in grade 10. It was Alfred Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade." There are no specific guidelines for this poetry form other than marking an event.

Why the festive mood?

    I was talking to my mom recently about how I wished we could visit the Philippines now. See, we went home last summer, and it rained a lot. The ideal season to visit is during winter, especially around Christmas. They celebrate the holidays differently there. If you think the houses are pretty and well-decorated in Canada, you will not believe how crazy it gets in the Philippines. I remember going to night mass, eating all kinds of desserts, and hearing so many carollers on the streets.

This week, we were prompted to engage with coding. I decided to look at Scratch, and once I figured out how to use it, I made something for this week's poem.

So, here it is just written out:

"The Lanterns Are Here" by Justine David

 Joy begins under the stars

while bells are ringing late at night

and plates are filling with feasts aplenty;

it's not the carolers who serenade,

nor the red envelopes and presents,

but people in warm embraces,

watching the colors of their lanterns. 

(My Scratch project actually has sound, but if it doesn't work... Oh well.)

We also have "lanterns" at our house! They're prettier when they're on during the night.

See you next week!