Poetry Niche – December 2025

All Spring Things

By Catherine A. MacKenzie

All spring things

Glow brightly,

Precious like diamond rings.

Fit for queens and kings,

Regular folk too,

All spring things.

A lonely bird sings

On leaves glistening,

Precious like diamond rings.

Birds spread wings,

Flying home to be part of

All spring things.

Fibers of gold strings

Woven in nests,

Precious like diamond rings.

Winter clings,

Wanting to share in

All spring things,

Precious like diamond rings.

Despite It All

By Catherine A. MacKenzie

Amid the darkness

And despair and doom,

View the blazing sun

And azure sky…

Or the silvery moon

And nightly black

When the living rest

After a day of light.

Grasp your hands

And flex your fingers,

Be grateful for

Limbs that move:

Legs to carry

You through the day

And arms to fold

On your chest at night.

Feel blessed for breath

That wakes you

Every morning,

For the power to yawn

And stretch,

To frown

Or smile,

To greet a new day.

In this new normal

Of a not-so-gentle world

Of confusion and chaos

Be kind,

For we share one life.

Be thankful for tears,

For to love is to cry and

To die is to have lived.

Despite doom

And despair

Be grateful

To be alive,

To see the sun

And the moon,

For what is the alternative.

Santa’s Dilemma 

By Mark Sconce

Every year about this time,

St. Nicholas begins

To organize his trip abroad

Amid the children’s grins.

But news this year at Christmastide

Includes a sober piece:

That certain children far and wide

Are shockingly obese.

Never one to shirk his duty,

Old Santa makes a vow:

“By shedding from m’own big booty,

I’ll show the children how

To take a little pride.

I’m setting the example

For children far and wide

To make us all less ample!

Ho, Ho, Ho.”

And so Dear Santa shopped around

To find the right equipment

To help him shed his portly pound

Before the Great Transhipment.

Mrs. Claus encouraged him

Throughout the days and nights.

She fantasized him slim and trim

And bought him trendy tights.

The active adult that he is

Soon led to Leisure Village,

Where fitness is a booming biz,

Where dumbbells curl and curl…

• Author
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Mel Goldberg

Mel grew up in Chicago. After completing his bachelor’s degree in English at Northern Illinois University, he taught English and literature in Los Angeles. After earning his master’s degree in literature at California State College at Long Beach, he returned to Illinois to teach high school literature and writing and college English. He taught literature at Stanground College in Cambridgeshire, England for one year as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher.
After he retired and moved to Sedona, Arizona, he taught literature at Yavapai College in Clarkdale, Arizona.
He and professional artist Bev Kephart bought a small motor home in 2003, sold most of their possessions, and traveled the U. S. for seven years. After visiting Mexico several times, they settled in the village of Ajijic, joining the ex-pat artist and writing communities.
Mel’s writing has been published online and in print in The United Kingdom, The United States, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia. He is the author of three novels, a book of short stories, and several books of poetry. He and his wife now make their home in the village of San Nicholas de Ibarra.

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