A POEM about a baffled Santa getting his dates wrong has won the first seasonal poetry competition organised by a north-east community group.
The Christmas Calamity, by Macduff youngster Freddie Hankin, triumphed in the Banff and Macduff Christmas Lights Association contest.
His four-verse entry tells of Santa at the North Pole preparing for the annual festive run on his sleigh because decorations are up and snow is falling.
It tells how he orders his elves to get the sleigh ready and then describes him “whooshing” through the sky.
The payoff, in the final verse, has two elves discussing Santa’s behaviour and musing that the flying must have gone to his head because it was only Halloween.
The judge, Banff poet John Mackie, said: “Freddie’s poem was picked because of the humour, unique slant and twist in the tail.”
The competition was organised to encourage entries from primary school pupils at Banff and Macduff. It attracted 266 poems, which Mr Mackie and his co-judge, Anna Tessier-Lavigne, whittled down to a shortlist of 25. Mr Mackie said: “It was clear that the children and their teachers had worked hard with imagination, originality and verve.”
Freddie, 10, of Bruce Street, Macduff, is in class six at the town’s primary school and wrote his prize-winning poem at school. He said: “This is the first time I have entered a poetry competition and I might be a poet when I grow up.”
The avid reader was presented with his £20 prize by Mr Mackie and said he would probably spend the money on books. Freddie’s proud parents, Neil and Molly, said their son had shown them his poem but had not revealed it was for the competition.