Gemini Rising

The perfect antidote to the dark, cold days of midwinter, hygge is a Scandinavian concept that's notoriously difficult to define. In essence its a feeling of coziness and comfort in simple everyday living. Hygge is thought to have its roots in a similar word in Old Norse meaning 'protect from the outside world'.
Midwinter is the perfect time to embrace hygge. To gather with friends and family and embrace the simple things in life. Share food together, enjoy a hot chocolate, a family board game or card game, light a candle or read a book with your favorite blanket ... these are all considered hygge! So get comfy and embrace the restorative powers of the long winter months before the busyness of spring arrives.

Free Verse- is an irregular form of poetry in which the content free of traditional rules of versification, (freedom from fixed meter or rhyme).
In moving from line to line, the poet's main consideration is where to insert line breaks. Some ways of doing this include breaking the line where there is a natural pause or at a point of suspense for the reader.

Following the direction of Walt Whitman, Ezra Pound and T.S.Eliot, many modern day poets use this particular form of expression.

Your topic is a family gathering. Tell us about the simple things in life.

n Scandinavia elves are traditionally known as Tomtens. These Swedish fairy folk are believed to be the spirit of the home. They offer company and protection over the long, dark winter months. However, they respond any bad behavior by causing their own mischief!
On Christmas Eve it is the Tomtens who bring Yuletide gifts to the children. In return the Tomten gets some butter for his porridge.


A Limerick is a rhymed humorous or nonsense poem of five lines which originated in Limerick, Ireland. The Limerick has a set rhyme scheme of : a-a-b-b-a with a syllable structure of: 9-9-6-6-9. The rhythm of the poem should go as follows: Lines 1, 2, 5: weak, weak, STRONG, weak, weak, STRONG, weak, weak, STRONG, weak, weak Lines 3, 4: weak, weak, STRONG, weak, weak, STRONG, weak, weak This is the most commonly heard first line of a limerick: "There once was a man from Nantucket."

Your topic is Tomtens (fairy folk)

Epigrams are short satirical poems ending with either a humorous retort or a stinging punchline.
Used mainly as expressions of social criticism or political satire, the most common forms are written as a couplet: a pair of rhymed lines in the same meter.
Practitioners of this poetic expression include John Dunne, Ben Jonson, William Blake and Robert Frost.

Your topic is the horse's skull.

Who loves Christmas carols? The tradition of going door to door carol singing has its roots much further back in time when folk would go Wassailing.

In medieval times, livelihoods depended on the orchards and the land producing a plentiful harvest. At Yuletide the community would go down to the orchards dressed in bright colors and decorated with ribbons and feathers. They would carry a large bowl of hot, spiced drink called wassail.

Amongst the fruit trees they would sing songs, perform plays, and sprinkle the hot drink on the roots and branches. The songs are said to wake the spirit of the trees and ward off evil spirits that may harm the harvest. This ancient ritual still occurs today, often on twelfth night in the fruit growing counties of England.

A Song is an expression of a poet's personal emotions, meant to be sung. Lyrics in a song contain verses (lines that make up a song; sung poem) and a chorus (a repeating verse in a song (refrain).

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I tried to write this song in the spirit of a Wassailing song.

The Christmas Witch known as La Befana comes from an Italian legend connected to the birth of Jesus. Her name derived from the Greek word for Epiphany. Legend has it that the Three Magi stopped at La Befana’s home on their way to find the baby Jesus. She tries to follow them without luck. To this day, she travels the skies on her broom looking for baby Jesus.
Stopping at each home, she flies down the chimney to leave gifts for the children including a lump of coal. Being a good housekeeper, she will sweep the floor with her broomstick before she leaves, sweeping away of the problems of the year.
Midwinter was a time for storytelling, magic and casting divinations. Who better than the benevolent witch La Befana to represent this time and find her way into Christian myth.

The Florette, created by Jan Turner, consists of two or more 4-line stanzas.
Rhyme scheme: a,a,b,a
Meter: 8,8,8,12
Fourth line requirement of internal (b) rhyme scheme, on syllable 8.

Like the outgrowing of a small flower, the fourth line of each stanza is longer, and enwraps the previous lines. Line #4 requires an internal rhyme scheme that rhymes the eighth syllable with the end of line #3, and continues to add on four more syllables than the other lines so that the fourth line ends rhyming with lines #1 and #2.

LaBefana is your topic.

The legend of the Christmas Spider is associated with the folklore of Western Ukraine and Germany. This tale offers a hint at the origins of tinsel. According to legend, a hardworking widow and her children couldn't afford decorations for their Christmas tree. However, on Christmas Eve, while the children slept, a spider spun webs around its branches. When the children awoke on Christmas morning, they opened the curtains, and the first rays of sunlight turned the webs into strands of silver and gold. It's believed in many parts of Europe if you find a spider web in your home at Christmas it's a sign of good luck!

Your topic is the Christmas Spider.

A Kyrielle is a French form of rhyming poetry written in quatrains (a stanza consisting of 4 lines), and each quatrain contains a repeating line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each stanza). Each line within the poem consists of only eight syllables. There is no limit to the amount of stanzas a Kyrielle may have, but three is considered the accepted minimum.

Some popular rhyming schemes for a Kyrielle are: aabB, ccbB, ddbB, with B being the repeated line, or abaB, cbcB, dbdB.

Designing your own shape poem can be simple and fun, but try not to pick anything that would be too difficult. We suggest mapping out or drawing your shape first, and then importing the text of your poem into your shape.

A Christmas tree or a mushroom shaped poem is your goal while somehow talking about flying reindeer or St. Nic.