Thank you, John.

I too enjoyed all the poems and was glad I wasn't the sole judge. I found my favourites fluctuated according to my mood, but I kept coming back to The News... and Happy Birthday.

Thanks to everyone who said nice things about my innards; though I was surprised nobody mentioned Longfellow, from whom I nicked the form. A E Housman did it better. It was, as Susan twigged, an occasional poem, written in a state of extreme terror as an attempt to make common ground with the charming stranger who was about to tell me more about my insides than I actually wanted to know. And Martin was right about the spelling error.

Mary, I was delighted to share a line with you, too. This has been fun - roll on the next one!

Congrats to all the winners and finalists. And thanks for hosting, John. Enjoyed.

Yes, congratulations to the winners and finalists. It was fun learning who wrote what. Thanks, John.

Very enjoyable bake-off. I could not guess most of the authors, despite having read some of the poems before. It was fun to see what a range light verse can have.

Susan

Thank you, John for hosting a most successful bake-off. Congratulations to all the finalists, and especially the winners ... and especially Julie on the democratic vote-topping streak!

Cheers,
...Alex

Thanks, Tim, your words mean a lot. And yes, I was very young when I started posting here, 17, I think. And how much I've learned!

Isn't it great when people start saying, "He's a good poet despite his age" rather than "He's a good poet for his age"?

Much deserved kudos, Orwn!

I'm happy I could help. I enjoyed your poem very much, Ann. It's really entertaining and amusing. I've actually written some funny poems about colonoscopies (although I have not yet had the procedure done to me thank heavens!).

Martin

Ann

Longfellow? I never knew that. But HE must have nicked it from Byron, surely?

Congratulations to all! Thanks, John, for your amiable leadership.