Pentrace Christmas Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Stuart Williams
  Article # 404 Article Type: Competition

 

To celebrate the 2003 Festive Season, Stuart Williams sponsored a Pentrace Christmas Poetry Contest.

Stuart provided three prizes. The top three entries each received, posted from Old England, a specially printed Acorn Book Company softback book of Charles Dickens' glorious Christmas ghost story 'A Christmas Carol' with beautifully reproduced colour illustrations from the first edition, and a Victorian style charity Christmas card supporting St. Giles Hospice in Lichfield, England. See photo below.

In the true spirit of Christmas, Stuart also at the same time donated the total value of the book prizes - £20.97 ($35 US) - to the charity Oxfam. The rules were simple. Each entry had to be a new poem, in any style and no more than 500 words in length, on the subject of Christmas, and incorporating a relevant reference to a pen somewhere therein. Entries could be completely original, a pastiche or in the style of an earlier work, or include references to such.

Prizewinners:

1st: A Cat's Christmas Card
By Blaise Selby

The jingle bells remind me of
Chirping birdies in the tall grass.
Round ornaments made of glass
Rumble across the wood floor, tin tails flashing.
This tree in the house!
Balls of shiny paper, first crisp, then soggy.
Children offer eggnog. It makes me sneeze.
I leave greetings in the litter box:
Morse code on tinsel, tapped out in lumps.

2nd: I Want A Great Big Fountain Pen For Christmas
(Apologies to John Rox, writer, and Gayla Peevey, singer…but sung to “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas”)
by Marc Smith

I want a great big Fountain Pen for Christmas
Only a monster fountain pen will do
Don’t want an Estie or some old ringtop toy
I want a great big hunk-a pen to write with and enjoy

I want a great big Fountain Pen for Christmas
I don’t suspect my wife will mind, do you?
She won’t need to use a check or credit card
I’ll trade in all the dogs and cats
And sell off half our yard

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
Thumping down the stairs
Oh what joy and what a hoot
When I open up my loot
And find a big ink slurper lying there

I want a great big Fountain Pen for Christmas
Only a monster fountain pen will do
No wiggly nibs, I want one like a nail
Wet and broad, like, oh my gawd!
Laying ink down by the pail

The wags on the ‘Trace say I’m headed for carpal rot
But I’ll be scribing “War and Peace” on a single lever shot!

My shirts have lots of room, for such a monster pen
The pockets reach way down the front from my shoulder to the hem

I can see me now on Christmas morning,
Tripping down the stairs
And landing with a thump,
Upon my head I’d bump
A thirty liter inkpot there

I want a great big Fountain Pen for Christmas
Only a hulking fountain pen will do
No dandy dinks or vest-pocket guys
I only like…pens on super-size
And big, fat, oversize pens sure like me too!

3rd Untitled ‘haiku’
by Anonymous

Unwrapped Pelikan
Merry Christmas she whispers
Don't tell I'm Jewish

Honourable Runners-Up:

The Christmas Pen
By Philip Munson

The age old Question
From me to you
What to say?
And what to do?

The annual Christmas letter
Begins to unfurl this week
A hand on my barrel
To all good friends I will speak

My shiny gold nib
Will flow on the page
Telling of hopes and dreams
All the world my stage

Of children, grandparents
All wishing to be near
As snow falls on bare trees
At Christmas this year

The ink is a question
Which one has good flow?
To send a warm message
For all near and far to know

It needs to be warm
Yet of good cheer
Calming and traditional
Attractive and Clear

To tell of the children
Of Santa and care
Of peace in the world
An important message to share

Of caring and sharing
Of loss and gain
Tears and Laughter
A miracle to ease pain

After careful reflection
This query I ask
Can this choice
Be a difficult task?

Whether Sherwood or Plum
Or Sapphire or Pinkley
It matters not
What colors we see

For all of us share
The message this year
Of hope and of caring
As we write without fear

A Christmas Letter
by Rick Witter

The phone call turned to other friends
And George then heard the tell,
That tragedy had touched Dave's wife,
That Jill to cancer fell.

Oh lord not Jill, that gentle soul.,
It cut deep in his heart.
But battle with his best friend Dave
had shattered them apart.

So long ago, so small a start,
Contention festered sore.
From sour mouths came bitter words
And friends were friends no more.

From words come wisdom, joy and friends,
From words, epiphany.
From words come anger, spite and hate,
From words, harsh misery.

The truth was ugly on all sides,,
George realized that night,
We both did wrong, so many wrongs,
This time to set things right.,

He told his wife the news of Jill,
That Dave was now alone,
That he would see if Dave would come
To Christmas in their home.

And leaving his shocked wife behind
His first thought was to call.
But Dave might fail to understand,
Might misconstrue it all.

The message must be understood,
So clearly said and heard.
This was the time for careful thought,
The place for written word.

So George got out his flex-nibbed Wahl,
An old and trusted friend,
And tried his words in many drafts,
To tell, to not offend.

Of things I said I am not proud,
I ask you to forgive.
Of things we did, let's let them pass,
Let‚s let our friendship live.,

And then came time to script his words
In elegance and taste;
In copperplate calligraphy
Would message find its grace.

So many hours, so many tries,
To shape a flawless sheet.
A misspelled word, a sloppy line,
And shreds fell to his feet.

Then finally the letter slipped
Into the envelope,
His sculpted words, ambassadors,
His best and highest hope.

But days slipped past, turned into weeks,
And only silence came.
That messy fight destroyed it all,
I have myself to blame.,

For words are strong and words are weak
And words can hard offend;
Some things we rip apart with words
With words we cannot mend.

But words were gold that Christmas Eve,
When knock came at the door,
When George discovered Dave had come,
When friends were friends once more.

The Judges:

Richard Binder, a pen collector and professional pen repairer and restorer, known to many of you for his occasional contributions to Pentrace.

Kate Binder, a professional writer, editor, and compositor, author of several computing books including Teach Yourself QuarkXpress in 14 Days, Easy Photoshop 6 and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Mac OS X.

Stuart Williams, a pen collector, historian, photographer, Tolkien lover, astronomer, and competition sponsor.

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