Halloween

2
by Kitty Philp aged 10

The candles are lit, the costumes prepared,
The windows made spooky, but the children aren’t scared,
For today is the day parents must give in
To the consuming of sweets (to them it’s a sin!)

So the parents go plotting to stop the Halloween sweet tooth
To make sure chocolates won’t harm their youth
But they can’t find any cures!
And an overpriced dentist lures.

The parents end up bankrupt and broke,
The kids ate the sweets until one boy spoke,
“Let’s have some more!”
More Haribo parents endure

The Signs of Autumn

0
by Eve Hopkins aged 14

The signs of Autumn can vary
Though it always starts with the leaves
They fall off the trees
Leaving the trees bare
and the ground covered
The ground can look messy
The ground can look nice
The temperatures drop
And the nights grow colder
also darker
But oh, is Autumn a blast!
The signs of Autumn can vary
Though it always starts with the leaves

The Snow of Winter

0
by Olivia aged 10

The white blanket has covered the forest floor,
It wasn’t quiet… it started to roar.
Though it’s spreading all around,
I heard a little tweeting sound.

The robins have come out of their tree
Just to come and sing to me.
I like it right here in my house, all warm!
Not outside, in the winter storm.

Love Song to a Birch

2
by Marian Moldaschl aged 11

WINNER WINNER WINNER

If I were to take
preserved moonlight,
unfolded like origami,
it could not compare to your bark.

If I were to take
the purest emeralds,
and chip them with the finest silver,
still they would not compare with your leaves.

If I were to take
the strongest dam,
and use it to block the flood,
it wouldn’t come close to your roots.

With your patchwork moonlight coat
glinting in the sun,
and your leaves that give the air we breathe,
your magic is second to none.

Feline Christmassy

2
by Tabitha Hodsoll-Kutereba aged 10

WINNER WINNER WINNER

The thick-pelted feline
Slick ebony and pearl
Wakes up to a rising sun.

Stretching into the new day
She pads over to the cat flap
Sneaking, slipping through
Quietly as a mouse.

She glides through a hedge
Adorned with Christmas lights
Reflections in her luminous amber eyes

Slithering back once more
She leaps on to the counter gracefully
And proceeds to scoff down your Christmas Dinner.

Magical Hansi

0
by Asger Moldaschl aged 7

WINNER WINNER WINNER

Hansi, he strokes he nuzzles
What a beautiful sight
Oh, Hansi the dog
He fetches and races
Along the garden. He
Goes and snatches treats
Off your hand. Oh Hansi
The magical dog
Hey, that doggy can
Fetch tennis balls and
Can snatch your
Treats and go!

Little Robin

1
by Archie Pugh aged 6

WINNER WINNER WINNER

Little robin wondering what the world outside is
Little robin looking at the big shapes the other birds make
Little robin watching the sea make huge waves that crash down making a flood of water
Little robin looking at the trees that shiver
Little robin feeling warm while his red jacket flutters

The Zoo

1
by Medhaswi Kundu aged 8

RUNNER UP

When I went to the zoo on a winter’s dawn
I saw a koala, a tiger and a fawn.
One snored, the other roared and bared its teeth,
But the fawn didn’t think that was any great feat.

The long-necked giraffes smiled at me,
While munching leaves at the top of a tree.
They were so dignified, so slow,
That I wanted to shout, “Go, go, go!”

The white handed gibbons went as fast as they could,
They wouldn’t stop playing, they never would.
The gibbons were playing so hard they didn’t see me,
I said, “It’s like the traffic lights are always on green.”

The elephants lifted their great trunks with a grunt,
But one just hid there and didn’t join in the fun.
The lion snapped their giant, piercing teeth,
They were hungry, were we something to eat?

We fed the goats with lush, green leaves,
Some pushed the others, to get the yummy feed!
The polar bear swam with all its might,
Playing with a big red ball, as if it would never have a night!

The time was so enjoyable, so pleasing,
I would always love animals, never ceasing!
I want to go again to the world’s oldest zoo,
And replay my experience that I did do!

A Stupendous Discovery!

0
by Shifa Asif aged 13

RUNNER UP

What an AMAZING discovery it is,

It shows me the world,

It told me stuff I did not know,

It showed me something which I could not see for a mile,

It helped me research and know many things,

It also helps me know the time,

I can fit in in my hand,

Maybe even in a bag!

It is a HUGE Discovery,

Sometimes it can be bad,

Sometimes it can make us mad,

But try to use this spectacular discovery postivitely,

And use it according to your relativity,

BECAUSE ITS AN AMAZING DISCOVERY,

Don’t make it leave you alone!,

And you know what?!

ITS A PHONE!

(Small message: A phone is something very useful if you try to use it properly without mis-using it. It can show you something which is happening in another country. It really is an amazing discovery! But please don’t use it inappropriately because it can harm you)!

The 52-hertz Whale – The World’s Loneliest Whale

1
by Iona Mandal aged 16

RUNNER UP

Have you ever whispered into the sea
of empty white noise and its cushioned cries?
Wishing that the pale grey echo would be
in close earshot of even a stray fly?
Whilst your open heart and its plaintive cry
traverses sunken ravines, caves afar,
your call is unheard, witnessed just by stars.

At 52-hertz haunts heartache through you,
52 long weeks of mourning a year,
hermit of the seas, from one home to few –
the distance you sweep, remaining unclear.
Your yelps create ripples of swathing fear,
indistinct lacuna trapped in your wail,
a cold, hollow torment with no avail.

So man, being man, sends down sonar waves,
into the inky Pacific abyss,
trying hard to save nature from the grave,
not an accessory we reminisce.
The once unheard, now will not be dismissed,
hoping efforts retrieve the forlorn soul,
alone to venture the seas and patrol.

As and when the same feeble sonar waves,
and lightyears consume stewardship and love,
man, glances above, away from the cave,
and witnesses the sprawling rifts above.
a land of lit screens and no touch thereof,
curled thumbs on keyboards, in pixels immersed.
And he knows not which rift he must close first.

 

(Told in Rime Royale)