Christmas Collaborations

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.

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…
I love Monty’s style of writing – it’s unique, witty, and brutally honest.
Thank you for putting this all together guys.
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This was so fun to read! loved it.
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Monty is a fantastic writer and we love the wit and honesty with which this is written. Thank you for visiting, reading and commenting x
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This is cool. It felt to me like I was reading a vintage Christmas story book.
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Monty Vern will love that! Thank you for reading and commenting x
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This piece was one of my very first writes and it was the one that gave me the idea to take Monty as a pen name. I wanted the freedom to express my emotions without hurting others and, to be honest, without exposing myself to more hurt myself. Sometimes it’s ok to be anonymous. Sometime it’s necessary to express ourselves fully. In many ways, ironically, I feel more myself as Monty then I do as my given name.
Changing gears, I admit to shedding more than a few tears reading T.B.C. notes about the author. I’m blushing and mushing and all sorts of gushing with appreciation and…yes…an…inkling…of…pride…may have slipped in as well.
So much gratitude to all of you that have taken the time to read these words. It means a lot to me.
Be well,
Monty
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❤🎄💚 Love the post ❤🎄💚 very nice the way you put it. The love of mom is the unique love!
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It’s pure truth x
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