Post 4

Christmas Collaborations

Illustration by Monty Vern

Merry Christmas! (in Jersey)
by Monty Vern

Jersey visits were usually a bore;

But Christmas at dad’s was all about more;

More presents and candies and all the holiday gore;

Always made home feel desperately poor.

Jersey holiday visits were all about gifting;

Branded sweaters and blue jeans usually Ill fitting;

Gift cards and cash and a wallet too fat for comfortable sitting;

Absolutely nothing homemade with coloured paper or knitting.

While December trips to Jersey did not require visiting the shore;

There were lots of hugs and kisses from strangers pretending to be more;

With laughing and yelling and calling someone a whore;

And often a stiff smacking that left my ass sore.

Illustration Monty Vern

Returning home from Jersey was always a bit shocking;

So bitter and cold despite the warm gloves from my stocking;

But I was always relieved at escaping the next socking;

For home was with mom and away from the mocking.

While home was much poorer and with the cupboards a bit bare;

Mom was usually there to provide me loving care;

More often than not, she was  true and fair;

And that is more than I can say for my stepma in Jersey that gave me a scare.

So, in the end it did not matter how many goodies were in my stocking;

My home was with mom and away from the mocking.

Notes on the Author

Monty Vern is a poet, illustrator and writer of short stories. We have come to admire Monty’s work and words. He has been instrumental in helping T.B.C create a diverse and eclectic blogging community, and his ethics resonate very closely with our own; we should celebrate and lift each other and use our differences to connect and change the world. He has changed our blogging world just by being a part of it. His generosity has seen him create perfectly precise images for Christmas Collaborations.

Monty’s current works Thirteen Words and Thirteen Words Vol 2 are available by clicking the link. They are an illustrated collection of poems, inspired by the daily #poetryin13 (twitter) prompts. We recommend purchasing them both – for short, snappy, humorously philosophical busts of poetry to get you through your day. In our humble opinion Monty is a Humanitarian through his poetry.

You can visit Monty Vern’s website montysscribbles.com for more inspiration, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram for excellent quirky poetry.

All of the illustrations provided throughout Christmas Collaborations are original, bespoke works of the mighty Monty Vern.

T.B.C…