Laureate pens a new 12 days of Christmas
Sunday 06 December 2009
Related articles
If you're looking for a cosy Christmas poem about maids a-milking, then turn the page now. Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, has instead come up with a brand new poem, based on "The Twelve Days of Christmas" but packed with trenchant reminders that there is still plenty to be concerned about even if it is the season of goodwill.
The poem has been commissioned for the Christmas edition of the Radio Times, published today. An exclusive extract is printed here – a verse about loss and separation because of Afghanistan.
The "wonderful, funny and trenchant poem" – according to Radio Times editor Ben Preston – looks at, among other things, Afghanistan, climate change, greedy bankers, politicians' expenses and floods.
Mr Preston said: "Our Christmas edition sells 2.4 million copies, and we thought it would be a great platform for the Poet Laureate."
Duffy, inset, the first female laureate, was appointed to the post in May. "If we think about what's up ahead, with climate change and wars over water, it's very frightening," she said earlier this year.
1
On the first day of Christmas,
a buzzard on a branch.
In Afghanistan,
no partridge, pear tree;
but my true love sent to me
a card from home.
I sat alone,
crouched in yellow dust,
and traced the grins of my kids
with my thumb.
Somewhere down the line,
for another father, husband,
brother, son, a bullet
with his name on.
Arts & Ents blogs
The Fall ‘Darkness Visible’ – Series 1, episode 2
There is a good many moments in the second episode of this psychological thriller that deserve refle...
‘Vicious’ – Series 1, episode 4
The opening titles squeal ‘Never Can Say Goodbye…’. Oh Lord how I wish I could heave this series off...
Game of Thrones ‘Second Sons’ – Season 3, episode 8
Even though there was a complete absence of our favourite odd couple Brienne and Jaime, we got anoth...
-
Daft Punk's Random Access Memories set to be fastest-selling album of 2013
-
Coronation Street triumphs over EastEnders at British Soap Awards 2013
-
Man Of Tai Chi: Keanu Reeves' directorial debut 'a contemporary Kung Fu film' snapped up at Cannes
-
The Freemasons' Code: Dan Brown reveals the message that told him the door to the lodge is open
-
Cannes Film Festival: And why exactly are vous here?
- 1 'Sickening, deluded and unforgivable': Bloody attack brings terror to capital’s streets
- 2 Mothers' diets may harm IQs in two-thirds of babies
- 3 Far-right French historian, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame in protest against gay marriage
- 4 Eyewitness gives extraordinary account of her confrontation with Woolwich attackers
- 5 Woolwich attack: The EDL might have a sinister plan as a soldier is murdered in suspected Islamic terrorist attack
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’


Comments