Perfecting a feeling in language

“The poem is a form of texting... it's the original text. It's a perfecting of a feeling in language - it's a way of saying more with less, just as texting is.” – Carol Ann Duffy

Born on this date in 1955, Duffy is Poet Laureate of Great Britain (since 2009) and  Professor of Contemporary Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University.  Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence in an accessible language that has made them popular in schools. 

Named an Honorary Fellow of the British Society in 2015, she has won numerous writing awards both in Great Britain and internationally.          Among her award-winning works are Selling Manhattan, The Christmas Truce, and The 12 Poems of Christmas.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Duffy’s,

     Christmas Eve

Time was slow snow sieving the night,
a kind of love from the blurred moon;
your small town swooning, unabashed,
was Winter's own.

Snow was the mind of Time, sifting
itself, drafting the old year's end.
You wrote your name on the window-pane
with your young hand.

And your wishes went up in smoke,
beyond where a streetlamp studied
the thoughtful snow on Christmas Eve,
beyond belief,

as Time, snow, darkness, child, kindled.

Downstairs, the ritual lighting of the candles.

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