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December 22, 2025

Poem of the week: Down on the canal on Christmas Day by Chris McCabe

A melancholy December vision in Liverpool invokes a Dickensian ghost with more worldly but still warm realism

Poem of the week: Down on the canal on Christmas Day by Chris McCabe

TL;DR

  • A poem from Chris McCabe's collection 'Hedonism' is featured, focusing on themes of memory and the past.
  • The poem depicts a Christmas Day encounter on a canal with a stranger who recognizes the speaker.
  • The stranger is described in terms referencing 'Cratchit' from A Christmas Carol.
  • The encounter leads the speaker to 'remake my father' from the smile of the stranger.
  • 'Hedonism' is presented as a philosophy prioritizing pleasure, with McCabe's interpretation finding surprising stories and emotional realism.
  • The collection and poem are influenced by the ideas of Mark Fisher, particularly 'haunting' and 'hauntology'.

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