Congratulations to the winners of our December 2024 contests.

 

 

Winner of  A Sonnet To Neopoet is mark  with his poem

 

Resurrection

 

From weeping skies, a fallen angel spills,
Unfurling wings, escaping heaven's hills.
Her reign once mighty in the halls of hell,
Now tears betray the sorrow she can't quell.

She cherished life, embraced each fleeting breath,
Shielding us from shadows, pain, and death.
More than mere holiness, a vibrant soul,
With boundless love that makes us whole.

No earthly cause explains the sudden blow,
The lightning's flash that brought her down below.
She gave her spirit freely, this we know,
A tapestry of starlight she would sew.

Where once we saw a fall, a sinful plight,
Now love illuminates her endless flight.

 

Winner of  12/24 What is Friendship? Is scribbler  with his poem

 

TWO SEAT BENCH

 

The treated wood on this deer stand
is fading grey from all the years
which matches these woods old and bland.
I check for rot as autumn nears
and last night's ground fog disappears.

Carefully I ascend the ladder
and it creaks like my brittle bones.
It holds me so it doesn't matter.
Through these deep woods the wind moans
with desultory low pitched tones.

I step from ladder onto rough cut blind;
it's almost level and nearly square
but I reckon the deer will not mind
as they pass from here to there
checking their range with intent stare.

It looks like the roof doesn't leak,
I shake the walls, the braces hold.
The openings will let me peek
come the months when winds blow cold.
My exam is not complete, all told.

I turn toward that I'd as soon not see
A bench which I once built for two
an old friend who used to hunt with me.
I knew not then his hunts were through.
Too many spots in where his doom grew.

I sit on one end of the bench,
raise my head to take on sylvan view
spotting a yellow breasted finch
while remembering this man I knew.
I wonder if he sees this too.

 

Winner of  12/24 On The Naughty List is Lavender  with the poem

 

The Naughtiest Naughty of All

 

You know Harry and Marv
The Joker and Brutus
Darth Vader and Sauron
The Grinch who'd "de-Who" us.

Hannibal Lecter
Cruella De Vil
Honed Freddy Krueger
Cute Gremlins who kill.

Bug-filled Oogie Boogie
Wicked Witch and her broom
Ebenezer Scrooge
In his thrice-haunted room.

Michael Corleone
Godfather, ill-famed
The Dark Lord of Hogwarts
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

But do you recall
The Naughtiest Villain of all?

(Da-da, dum-dum)

That little creepy shelf elf
Hiding there above my head
Eavesdropping on my every word
Ratting to The Man In Red.

He and his flimsy arms and legs
Resting near the fireplace
I wanna fling him to the flames
Watch his brown-nosed, blazing face.

Elf on the Shelf is such a fink
Tattling on my every whim
I'd like to toss him in the creek
Dank, and wet, and very dim.

Then one night, I'd had enough
Of goody-two-shoes' snitches
Yanked that elf right off the shelf
And ripped open all his stitches.

Now I'm a happy caroler
I can be my naughty self
Singing this version of "Rudolph"
Finishin' off that freaky elf.

 

Winner of  12/24 Santa and Mrs. Clause at a Bar is  Geezer with the poem

At the X-Mas Bar

 

As I passed by the sitting booth
in the X-Mas bar and grill,
I saw Mr. and Mrs. Santa
sit down to have a swill.

He patted her on the bum,
she kissed him on the cheek,
I distinctly heard her say,
Boy, what a wretched week!

He said; Yeah, I know it hon,
but it's all over now.
We had some terrifying moments,
but we got through somehow.

We had to can elf Albert,
he ate my stash of magic cookies.
He tried to hit on you, my love,
looking for some nookie.

Then the reindeer went on strike,
wanting fresher hay and feed,
and Rudolph, with that damned nose
got them all to smoking weed!"

Well, get us another drink my dear,
I'll rack the table for a game of pool.
Then off to bed at the North Pole,
where you can make love to this old fool.

 

Winner of 12/24 Delayed On Christmas Eve is Jokerface82

 

Cancelled

 

Slate grey stretched skies
winding snake, skidding sloshing
roads, cold choking cloaks of
icey hugs and screaming wind
tugs. Falling flake feathers
pale as cocaine

Bobble hat wearing brats
lobbing frosty white
spheres, causing stripes
of creamed powdered
crowned cars, to smack

and crash, under a,
concealment of falling
white rain. Brandberry

red faces and blushing
noses, infuriating drivers,
doors flying open with
shaking raging fists

catapulting angry words
at mobs of yob minded
brats. Now Christmas
Eve is mad, packed its
sacked, it's, been hijacked
by mitten gloved douchebags.

 

Winner  of  12/24 My Advice To Younger Me is Tigger Kaz with the poem

 

Fear less

 

Ribbons and buttons,
A haberdashery smile,
Perfectly crafted, by a long mile.
Practical decorations, well packaged placements.
Hidden within the depth of our basement.

All manner of scraps,
And material pieces.
All folded neatly, without any creases.
A plethora of memories, wrapped up into one,
From a bygone era that's long gone.

And at the same time,
Just as these flashbacks appear.
I hear a noise that fills me with fear.
A scratch then a squeak, I cannot find,
What cretins lurk to blow my mind?

A little searching,
Revealed a pair of twitching faces,
I'm ready to flee, as my heartbeat races.
But then I stop, and reconsider my fear,
As I wipe away a lone straying tear.

No more afraid of what lurks beneath,
In the darkest depths under there.
They've no more places to hide anywhere.
All horrors uncovered in a blink of an eye,
Illuminated by a crack portal to the sky.

With no more reasons to take flight,
I marvel at all that time forgot.
All the hidden gems not liked alot.
And as it all swirled around my mind,
I wondered why I left them behind.

My youthful days,
Not so much a haunting curse.
More a drumming rhythm and verse.
This happy place, brings back my smile,
The briefest comfort, by a long mile.

And as I stare at these forgotten gems,
Covered in dust and waiting to be found.
In their tomb capsules underground.
I make a pact to revisit my past,
To reveal the part of me I'd masked.