Word of the Day Holiday Poem Contest

December 7, 2016

Intermediate+ Word of the Day Contest

Winning Poem

WHOLEHEARTEDLY I CHEERED the day
Which came and went without a FUSS
Which led to April, then to May,
And seemed would BUCKLE under us.

Three stars – and each with their own BEAM –
They MERRILY PEERED down at me,
As QUEER as such a thing might seem,
And BECKONED in the Christmas tree.

But, Oh, BLASTED CROOK! WICKED CURSE!
What yuletide wizardry or SPELL
Has made us oh-so-soon averse
To first traversing turkey hell?

PLUCK of poultry, pick of LOT,
See first to whom the LABOR‘s DUE,
To whom the day is all for naught.
The rest? May dishes leave them BLUE!

WHIP and WHISK, BANTER in the dark,
The SPOILS are almost ours to boast
(Or to the floor upon a BARK)
And “no Saint Nick!” will be our TOAST.

Alas, the BINGE has made us BOW,
Our feet FLIPPED to the air, and then
With WEARY WAVES of fist avow
To never eat so much again!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree,
So thick and LUSH to signal mirth;
Would that this pain would leave from me
But all that’s left to say is: “WORTH.”

By Jose Cazares, from Sacramento, CA, United States

Runners-up

Livier, from Grenoble, France

Hadjer Hope, from Hadjout, Algeria

Gianvito Contangelo, from Matera, Italy

We’d like to thank all of the Word of the Day Holiday Poem Contest participants. We enjoyed reading your poems so much that it was very hard to choose a winner. If you are the winner or runner-up, look out for our email; we will contact you soon about your prize. Congratulations!

Happy holidays and happy New Year from the WordReference Word of the Day team!

Basic+ Word of the Day Contest

Winning Poem

I WOKE UP on Saturday and I received

the best present I have ever had,

it was a little present what I received

but the most special I’ve probably had.

It was a photo album of my HEALTHY family
so I opened it very carefully and slowly.
I REALIZED that life goes too fast
and we have to enjoy it until the last.

I hope you have a good New Year
and remember not to drink too much beer.
I wish you a Merry Christmas today
and be sure to subscribe to the Word of the Day.

By Isabel Alfonso, from Barcelona, Spain

Runners-up (those are people whose poems we like but who are not the first-place winner)

Susana, from Argentina

Samir Salmi, from Meknes, Morocco

Thank you, contest participants! We loved your poems. We will email the winner and runners-up. Happy holidays and happy new year from the Word of the Day team!