Karlyn Pickens
threw a softball faster than the dickens.
As I stood ready to swing and hit,
the ball was already in the catcher's mitt.
Charles Dickens
wrote a plot that thickens
about Pip's fate
and expectations that were great.
urchins
lurkin’
pick pockets
slick rockets
cash gone
search spawned
no leads
heart bleeds
drop case
God’s grace
Certainly no coward was Bob Cratchit
scrapping together fifteen shillings, a measly bit
a dear family man, meek but not bleak
putting Scrooge to shame, driving miser to seek !
~~~~~~~~
2nd Placing : Standard Contest
Dec.2025
‘I wear the chain forged in life.’ – Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol.
Enduring the daily drudgery ahead –
providing no comfort, only burden.
Resisting the luxury of memories
as regrets only serve a selfish purpose –
clamouring like Marley’s chains.
The dulcet tones of unchained laughter
free of guile and regrets.
I welcome the many fond memories –
comforting medals of honour.
I embrace the promise of the family gathering ahead.
It’s so hard to start
Brain and pen, poles apart
Yet two lines in, the pace quickens
Soon you’re writing like the dickens
Thoughts stream in and out your head
Fish them out, else they’re left unsaid
Moments ago, you left yourself for dead
Now a bird aloft, your words ~ wings spread
Charles John Huffam Dickens
wrote many novels where the plot thickened
but one of his best ditties
was A Tale of two Cities
Charles Dickens
his novels began as writing compositions
with hilarity and kindness, he wrote of the poor
with stories we still love that from his pen did pour
Social critic and novelist Charles Dickens -
The plot of his every book so interestingly thickens!
Not only the creator of Scrooge was he;
He revived the Christmas spirit for you and for me.
love through sacrifice even unto death . . . a lost soul’s hope for salvation
Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
A Christmas Carol
author Charles Dickens
worked in a boot-blacking factory at age twelve
after father was sent to debtor’s prison
campaigned vigorously for children’s rights
My maths teacher said I'll be nothing,
Algebra and calculus caught me dozing.
My Chem teacher condemned me too,
For chemicals sent me straight to the loo.
In physics I was called dumb,
For machines made my mind numb.
Nothing but words excites my passion.
Lyrics and sonnets the real temptation.
Dickens and Ng?gi I read overnight,
Shakespeare I pick at the morning light
Devour volumes with a curious mind
Swallow what my intellect can grind.
Oh! Deliver me from the power of words!
I'm bound in unbreakable cords.
Words call, mesmerize then seize,
And enslave before I realize!
I
If u loved, you may write sound poetry;
If u loved & lost, words add a higher degree
Of lonely beauty and crowded clarity
As was true of Dickinson, POET, Lady, my EMILY
II
Life and breath can yield great writing
Love and loss point to truth, reuniting
Where all are level, Scripture doth remind
Before this act, stage, LILA in Hindu mind
Oh, don’t flatter me with presents from the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Tis the season for nostalgia, but those feelings never last.
It’s a gift-wrapped empty promise not worth tuppence on the street,
Or a ticket to the opera when you’ve nothing left to eat.
Oh, don’t weary me with visions from the Ghost of Christmas Gone.
It’s a fairy tale for paupers who’ll be just as poor come dawn.
I’ve no sympathy for indolence, nor ignorance and want.
If you’re looking for compassion, find another bank to haunt.
Oh, don’t bother me with worries from the Ghost of Christmas Done.
Send those children of the gutter to the workhouse, every one!
Put their noses to the grindstone in a more productive game;
Earning porridge making bootstraps for the barefoot and the lame.
Oh, don’t humbug me with pleadings from the Ghost of Christmas Lost.
Sir, the figures on my balance sheet won’t justify the cost.
So, our business is concluded and I’m free to wash my hands.
Tell the Sisters of St. Alban’s, the eviction notice stands!
Charles Dickend mimiced people of his day
by instalments he had his say
He satorised manners of his time
helping poets(like me) to poesy rimes
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