It was the cool of the night of January 15, 1966
This was the night that changed the trajectory of
a young nation Nigeria
While the 5 majors were striking, Brigadier Maimalari
was celebrating his marriage.
The majors struck terror into the jars
Who struck a tale of terror and of wages
It was the cool of the night
That Nigeria got its first blight
Ever since Nigeria has not been the same.
This is the 60th anniversary of the 1st military
Coup in Nigeria.
(Written on the 15th of January, 2026)
Your Madame President
All hail the Queen Africa
I apologize
Winter Ailments
January diseases make their customary rounds,
Coughs, sneezes and sniffles all going around;
Cold and flu bugs ride the indoor air currents,
waiting to become the next unwelcome occupant
of unwary human lungs and ripe nasal passages –
unwashed hands or exposed faces encourage attacks.
Sometimes occurrences creep up all of a sudden,
medical ailments dismissed now seize your attention.
What was overlooked will no longer be ignored,
need a professional's help to get your health restored.
Fears can be dispelled and facts verified,
Real problem addressed, antibiotics prescribed.
Difficulties are handled, dosages absorbed
knowing improvement is coming is adored.
Sometimes the most effective step here
is to get some help to see your way clear.
Better health is just a few more steps ahead,
Determined fortitude will put you in good stead.
RIOTERS GET CASH
FOR JANUARY 6, BASH
TRUMP BEING SO BRASH
Whispers in a january evening
Infringe upon the sullen silence.
Nature doles its peaceful sleep.
Tranquility come along bearing gifts
Enticed by embers scattered across the sky,
Radiant rebels in the night.
Modestly a moonstone hangs above the horizon,
Ovation worthy though she be.
Oceans sway to her command,
Nuptials possibly in the cards.
AP: 1st place 2026, 2nd place 2026, Honorable Mention 2026
Wanting a little fun
Depart on a run
Seeking bakery pastry buns
Tasty and sweet
Jogging through the village street
Enduring the athletic heat
Conquering the feat
Can not be beat
Enjoying the run
For pastry buns
Not caring where you are from
Only greeted with a ‘welcome’
Take a bite
Time is not tight
During the bun
Run
Done for fun
Fattening those bottom cheeks
While everyone speaks
Bragging every week
About climbing the peaks
Featured on the bun
Run
Done
For fun
Where Danishes are great
Even know competitors gained too much weight
The I.C.E. Capades
Fern refuses to thaw Minnesota's ICEy glades
While three million pages expunge during harsh raids
Leering predatory smiles
at redacted Epstein files
Evidence held, elite absolved, absurd charades!
Although its reviews mixed and complementary
It was more a confusing than tenet documentary
Immigrant Melania
shipped back to Slovenia?
Away from the creepster Trump penitentiary
January is never meant for blue
It is always of pure gold and the pearls
These days, if you wouldn't argue how true
It has done the do, January curls
Forgive January for its merry
Seized up by December's bill payment
And its galore enjoyment, unwary
Toasting eyes of its darling assortment
It was like a mile of thousand gazes
Grievous goodbye's wish, everyday is long
Seems unfortunate like lonely phases
How ideas run in disarray so wrong
December has blessed January rooks
In its entirety of heavenly nooks
Surely, the troubling peace of previous nights
Shall I see no more from February
The class dinner that breakfast deeply benights
Happy to see the best cautionary
Grateful for the opportunity, Sir
Knowing fully what time mean to pretend
Have I to unseal the veil not so blur?
Or get mind accepts to become unbend?
All baggages' swags claim to be of prudence
Young mind; old way home to pickup any
See discordant bail out of innocence
Enforce blinded choice on times so many
Thanks dearly Sir for the closed eyes given
No offense but heal flurry once driven
January's once a year thankfully.
We all enjoy celebrating on the first.
The other thirty days suck.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 2nd place 2026
Come February
This is the last day of January 2026
It has been a long month; my surgery took
more out of me than I thought
I have shrunk the trousers' legs too long. I have
to fold them so they do not fall over
I have been thinking of Ernest Hemingway
He had a gun and knew how to use it
I never had a weapon; one needs a license, but I could
Say it is for protection
If I ask for one bullet, they will say I need
a clip, how many bullets are there, six?
I'm painfully sober, a glass of red wine wouldn't
Come a miss, I'm optimistic with a drink
Again, I think of Ernst Hemingway, who avoided
the indignity of old age
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn cracks like thin ice~
January’s icy breath still claws
through the naked bones
of the maple tree
A single grackle, black as coal,
drops a single note into the cold.
Frost-etched windowpane~
a spider's thread trembles, gold
in the newborn light.
The world holds its breath, then sighs:
the last January dawn is here.
Frost scratches the window~
dawn cracks like thin ice, bleeding
pale January light.
The heater still hums its wintry hymn,
while night still clings to my bones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snowdrifts swallow streets~
the city holds its breath,
counting cracks in ice.
Somewhere, a radiator sings
of warmth we'd almost forgotten.
Travel inward, walking in tight
corridors of a rundown maze.
Suffocating within these bricks,
built by sweat and tears.
Obfuscated by the mist that,
blinds, and smells rosemary.
Turns creating uncountable corners,
leaving space for beings to breathe.
Beings that watch — and stalk.
The cracks on the walls can seduce
with outward's gaze, but there is no escape.
Any window or ledges — and the thought
of walking back to face them shivers my soul.
These walls built me too, each drop
of sweat, like metal for hardening.
Each drop of tear, like light for clarity.
Lost, but I keep moving.
Not chained, just surrounded.
I was never alone, like a kid
that leaves crumbles in the forest.
I was already in pieces, pieces of my own spirit.
They were me.
They told me:
“Pierce the pain. Look beyond.”
I did not.
I cannot will —
I can only long.
Imust not become nothing.
I remain unfinished.
It's January and fluffy snow
has a their gleamy glow,
dim light hits my wide window;
no cardinals stop by to say hello.
How I miss them
and their colorful wings
that searched sunny skies
not too windy or too cold
feeling free and bold,
I'm feeling sad;
I need a song of cheer.
I hear a knock on my door,
the prettiest lady appears...
so elegant in a fur coat
she bought at Macy's;
I invite her in, her red hair
missed up by snowflakes,
I take her coat and hang it
in the closet, she takes note,
" How can I thank you dear?
Your kindness delights me. "
Continue to fall lovely snow,
no chilly wind seems to blow;
the winter's stillness of the noon
inspires a dance with Eleanor
her mind wanders far,
her desire is a flower in bloom.
We dance as lovers usually do,
towards evening,
as if it were late spring...
flowers petals falling;
is this a sudden feeling
of romance, or just a pretense?
Will it turn into
a kiss so intense?
After saying hello, they give you that dead fish gaze.
A gaze that oozes:
"I'm not interested in what's on your mind.
I'm not interested in your children.
I'm not interested in your evolving dreams.
I'm not interested in what aches your heart.
I'm not interested in your dull life, to say the least.
It's a Gaze that says you're an annoyance.
A distraction from my cell phone cat videos.
Eyes that behold a long-dormant empathy.
Two black holes where lie the remnants of humanity.
January Categories
Definition | What is January in Poetry?
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.