A decade or so ago I was inspired to write a Christmas poem after watching how hard my stepmother was working to host a family get together. I’m not real big on poetry or even Christmas for that matter, but in the years since I’ve made it a point to write one Christmas-themed poem every year. I’d usually just share these with my writing guild at our annual party and that’s the last anyone would hear about them.

Then last year I was asked to be the featured poet at an open mic in December. Thinking it was important to have a larger arsenal of poems, I cranked out about a dozen within the month of November. I finally did the thing that professional writers do – I FORCED the muse to come. I thought of every single topic I could possibly touch upon within a poem and got to work.

The characters in the poems vary from sad mall Santas to vapid social media influencers, and the themes touch on everything from over commercialization to stressful family dynamics. Every poem is fun, humorous, and more often than not crude.

Over this past year I’ve compiled these 20 poems, illustrated them, and finally – just in time for the holiday season – I’ve published them in a book entitled A Marvelous Time.

I’m pretty proud of these poems. For one, they’re legit hilarious. I think as an author, if you can crack yourself up while you’re writing, that’s a pretty good indication that others will laugh, as well.

Second, they all rhyme. That seems like maybe a weird thing to be proud of but writing rhyming poetry is way harder than writing non-rhyming poetry. There’s a meter, a beat, whatever the terminology is, that non-rhyming poetry just doesn’t have to concern itself with. Tempo? Syllabic symmetry? I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I was in school. My point is that my rhymes aren’t forced, they’re all as natural as can be and yeah, I’m pretty proud of that.

And third, the topics in each poem are just good. Some are über relatable, some are darkly hysterical, and some are light hearted commentaries on our societal and religious beliefs and traditions. While I think all of these poems will make you laugh, some of them will also make you go Wow, yeah…and maybe even spur a little conversation with family and friends. At least, that’s my hope, as an author. 😊

So if you want to check it out, you can find it on bookshop at https://bookshop.org/a/89015/9781960151100, or on Etsy at https://vulgarscullerymaid.etsy.com/listing/1615379447/a-marvelous-time-adult-humor-christmas. And if you like it, please share with your friends and leave a review. Thanks!