Jubilee Poetry Competition 2018 Winners

The theme of this year’s poetry competition was ‘Arrival’, here are the winning poems;

Senior Category:

Winner – ‘Where Winter Meets Spring’, Ella Finch

Winter always had ice in his heart,
Distance in his eyes and a scowl on his face,
Snowflakes in his eyelashes and thoughts on his mind
Of breathing wind to rattle the trees.

Spring always had a bounce to her walk,
A swing in her hips and a grin on her face,
Flowers in her hair and thoughts on her mind
Of breathing life into someone new.

When Winter met Spring, he found himself silenced.
Unable to speak, he basked in her glow,
But he left.
Her warmth only made him notice how cold he was.

When Spring met Winter, she wasn’t sure what to think;
He was standoffish, sharp and icy.
She smiled, confident.
She sighed when he left, and she planted flowers in his wake.

They saw each other in passing at the same time every year,
But Winter never stayed around long enough to introduce himself;
Not until the year Spring arrived early.

They tried, they really did,
But they were together for barely two weeks;
Winter found that Spring’s sunshine-personality burnt in high doses,
And he saw how she flinched and shivered at his touch.

Winter, as always, was the one to leave.

Runner-up – ‘Sisyphus Rising’, Gray Holland

My journey is a Sisyphean task;
as Rosy-fingered Dawn shakes Reluctant Night from my covered eyes,
I am confronted by the pointlessness of it
and yet perpetual optimism forces me up;
I fall to my labours with knowing hand and shining eyes.

The weight of stony expectations rests on my shoulders,
bending my knees, straining my back, taxing my resolve,
breaking my spirit,
each new facet and detail in your plan for me,
a small lump or cleft in my herculean burden.

Knuckles cracked and bruised, calloused hands and shaking arms,
noonday Sun pressing down like a scalding iron fist,
but the day is half won, my eyes are shining,
the precipice is in sight, hope is up,
expectations in view, your insurmountable standards nearly met when

my knees give way.
Sweat slicking my skin, like yesterday I chase
my rock, my burden, your expectations,
down past all the progress I made today,
shame burnt cheeks and tear stung eyes;
dust kicked up in my face like nature is mocking my futile attempts.

Collapsing, an exhausted self-hateful heap,
shocked, disheartened, depressed to see I’ve gone backwards,
relapsed of sorts.
Whilst not holding its weight, my burden feels heaviest now,
rejecting physics, gravity gets heavier when I’m at rock bottom.
Tired Sun rests his head behind a mountain of tomorrow’s hopes;

Bold Night leads a starry brigade of rest and respite,
my transcendental protectors while I escape my task
to a hypnotic other world, arriving at a place of peace with what I achieved
emerging into first light with shining eyes and renewed hope,
knowing with lightened, brightened heart that I am not Sisyphus,
nor you a capricious God, that my trial will end
and your Gordian task will be conquered.

Runner-up – ‘From the Void and Back’, Hamish Ruddick

A hurtling, glittering slab streaking through
the inky black bosom of the vacuum,
Prophetic of the passing of the earth,
Birthed from ruin, sole purpose to exhume.

That day, a crimson crested horizon,
A wreath for the champion of death,
A boulder turned brilliant blossom,
For all, the last drawn breath.

Dying words on the lips of lookers,
Not only breath to be snatched away,
Mans mortality plain without succour,
Nothing left but to behold with dismay.

Unrelenting was the path of its berth,
Peeling the pith from the earth,
Drawn finally to a smouldering end,
Cleaving in two what once was whole.

To dust was despair annihilated,
And from there, a nucleus of rebirth,
Revolving like the cycle of being,
Eternally restless for aeons to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Junior Category:

Winner – ‘Arrival at the Trenches’, Max Sheil

May they be prepared ,
Their souls courageous .
Their  mind and body strong .

May they cut through the mist ,
Let no-mans land be theirs,
Give them a goal ,
Give them a light .

Support them on the way ,
Support the few who come home .
Stay with the final thoughts upon arrival ,
Stay with the last thoughts of life .

Praise their lives,
Morn their lives

For they arrived with purest heart ,
And fell fighting for King and country,
They arrived in foreign ground .
But lie there to this day in foreign earth ,
And where they lie becomes homeland.

Stay with their thoughts upon arrival,
Praise their life ,
Support them on the way .
Give them courage ,
Give them a light .

But never leave their soul , their thoughts ,
For they arrived with purist heart,
And remain a small part of homeland in foreign soil.

Runner-up – ‘Arrival’, Aiden Blay

Noun: coming to a destination,
But that’s not always desired depending on the situation,
Arriving at the right answer could fill you with frustration,
Especially if it’s no cause for celebration.

The destination is shrouded in mystery,
And once I go past the edge I become history,
I am not sure if I’m ready to leave life’s simplicity,
But I crave peace and existence without misery.

When there’s a feeling that there’s nowhere to go,
And all that’s left is pent up sorrow,
And I don’t know if there’s a better tomorrow,
I just remember that life’s like a game show,
Sometimes I’ll win and sometimes I’ll lose so there’s no need to feel low,
I just gather myself together and handle it like a pro.

Soon though the journey will have to end,
So I make sure I do everything I intend,
Because now I have all the time in life to spend,
But there will come a time when towards God I will ascend.

When I arrive at the golden gates,
I’m not sure if I can even handle what awaits,
Say there is no gate,
And darkness is my fate,
I’m not ready to just deteriorate.

Although it might seem far away,
I know the final destination closes in, so I pray.
I try to do all I can every day,
I only have one life to use, so I don’t throw it away,
I use all my opportunities to work and play.

When I look back at life on replay,
And think of all the things I wanted to say,
I wonder about what got in the way,
But at least I can say,
I did it my way.

Runner-up – ‘Arrival’, Charlotte Parsons

The word ‘arrival’ conjures up many things
Airports, babies, diamond rings
Astronauts landing on the moon
People on trains arriving soon
Destinations guaranteed
Life long dreams are achieved
Arriving late, missing the meeting
Arriving early anticipating the greeting
The first breath for a newborn girl
Shows the importance of arriving in this world.