The sound of the thunder is despicable, screams ringing in my ears
It’s deafening and booming with no despair
The lightning strikes jaggedly, it’s blinding
The sea is a roaring lion, with claws of a monster
It moves with no melancholy, it is aggressive and threatening
The rain is a pattering bullet piercing my skin
It’s as cold as freezing ice
Oh, I just woke up.
What is the fuss?
Come with me,
We are taking the bus!
Please can you tell me what is the fuss?
Oh come and sit on the bus!
We are going to celebrate!
What?
Oh SHUSHHH!
Too many questions,
Just wait and see!
Now I’m waiting to arrive patiently!
Oh I’m so happy!
Waiting patiently for the bus to stop
Oh, it’s taking so many cuts!
Mama, please give me my pack of nuts!
URGGGHHH!!!!!!!! IF YOU SAID ONE MORE THING,
YOU ARE NOT COMING WITH ME!!!
We are going to celebrate!
Now SHUSHH!
Mama what are we going to celebrate?
NATIONAL CHATTERBOX DAY!!!!!
I have a friend
Invisible and kind
I only see glasses
But I don’t mind
Helpful and useful
One of the sort
Round and happy
Stubby and short
Boy or girl
We’ll never know
The gender of my friend
Will never show
Glasses shiny
With a clean black frame
Nobody reveal
My kind friend’s name
My favourite friend
Completely unknown
Without my friend
I’ll be all alone
So my lovely friend
Please don’t leave
Though you’ll be free
I know I will grieve
I spin a black biro pen in my eager hand,
Over the blank paper where it falls and lands,
As I sit at the table in my small, cottage house.
I stare out of the window as I think to myself,
The stream rushes down the garden, glistening as it flows,
Many birds soar over, singing as they go.
Flowers are everywhere, bursting with colour and happiness,
Lack of weeds are visible, gotten rid with their nastiness,
Further in the distance I watch the edge of the tree tunnel,
Sheltering the creatures where they huddle.
I watch the butterflies ‘flitter flutter’ over the fields galore,
I see the cattle munching grass from the sweet green floor,
I see my dog run home covered in mud,
Clearly proud of himself because of what he’s done.
As I sit at the table in my small, cottage house,
I stare out of the window as I think to myself,
I pick my black biro pen up and into my hand,
Place the nib to the blank paper and…
Begin to loop and twirl in black ink,
Writing my poem, which is soon to be in print.
It’ll be found in books, libraries, shops,
Along with more, I’ll be nonstop.
I’ll love to have my poems read by people all around,
Making them smile, getting rid of each frown,
I’ll be delighted, ecstatic, with what I’ve achieved,
My poems everywhere, making people happy,
As I sit at the table in my small, cottage house,
I stare out of the window as I think to myself.
Winner
We told each other,
a month’s passing
would do no harm.
That the flipping
of each calendar page
would equate to no distance.
Rifted by the gap between
double blue ticks and green bubbles,
the lies of a glowing screen.
We are a car
With increasing mileage,
yet dwindling speed.
Time without momentum.
a grandfather clock,
a pendulum, never ceasing to sway.
Crease-less bed-sheets,
yet a stale stench,
of underused affection.
The ‘Welcome’ mat
left untouched,
to its soggy aftermath.
It is coincidental how,
two metres is the same
as six feet.
The distance
our hearts
lie sunken beneath.
I stare out of the window the streets are super bare
Seeing someone outside is just a bit rare
I want my friends or else I won’t have fun
I would be dark not even in the sun
I really miss my friends I miss all the joy
Living at home is boring without the boys
I hope lockdown ends in the summer
Because if it doesn’t it will be a bummer
Being bored is super bad
Only seeing my friends will make me glad
Lockdown in the Summer is the worst
So bad that it will make me burst
It’s unfair that we can’t have fun with our friends
When will lockdown ever end
Sleepovers, water parks and beaches
Jelly, ice cream and fresh peaches
Are triggering me so much
When I see my friends again
you won’t untangle me from their clutches
RUNNER UP
WINNER
Friendship is not continuous,
Nor is a healthy relationship with immediate family;
This is where we have the worrying tendencies,
That keep us from adjusting back to normal life.
Regardless of whether we can make up
with friends and family we’ve all abandoned,
We are in this together.
Being with close family for so long
with so little breaks for comfort is inevitably excruciating:
We discover how inept we all are vividly;
We are discouraged to go back to how it was,
We regret our decisions to do what is never a risk normally,
And last but not least,
We are frightened by the most mundane goings on.
We are people who commit to our lives;
We worry to leave things unfinished,
But this time…
We must put aside our regular lives, then come back as stronger,
braver and more cautious individuals
We must fight to save lives.
WINNER
“When we meet up again,” you say,
“We will read a book filled with maps,
And pretend we’re traveling the world
On our bunk bed, discovering magical places,
Choosing any character of our liking.”
“When we meet up again,” I reply,
“We will read ancient maps on our adventurous journey
And travel the magical world filled with wonder
On our time machine,
Discovering boiling deserts to ice cold North poles,
As lizards, wolves – whatever we wish.”
“When we meet up again,” you add,
“We will make a shop
And draw pictures,
Selling them for pennies
From Granny’s purse.”
“When we meet up again,” I say,
“We will be artists
In our New York studio,
And draw the finest paintings,
Selling them for a rich price.”
“When we meet up again,” you reply,
“We’ll go jumping off Angle Point,
Showing off our skills,
Not minding the cold water.”
“When we meet up again,” I grin,
“We will leap in the water at the highest peaks
Showing off our fabulous talent,
Not caring about the body-numbing water.”
“When we meet up again” we laugh,
“We will be joyful.”
WINNER
Oh, man, do I like her
and not just one thing about her
but I like a lot about her
the feeling of sunshine from her laugh
to her soft, caring hands to her beautiful, playful hair
or from her adorable and soothing voice
to her home-like, comfortable and tight hugs
there is just so much to love about this girl
and no I’m not her closest friend by far but sometimes
seeing certain people you don’t even talk to the most,
make you happier than ever and waiting for her after school
to listen to her stories was something I always looked forward to
and oh, another thing – the way she says I love you
Yes many people say it, but her
when she says it, she means it and she smiles with it
and makes you think, oh man she really does love me
I also love seeing pictures of her laughing and smile and I always end up in awe
and just look at her but most importantly I hope her smile in the pictures
is how she feels about her life right now, and about herself and the person she is
because that means the world to me and if that’s not the case,
if that’s not the case, that’s okay, because every time we talk
I will let her know how much I love her and how much I love to be with her
and you know, if I had one word to describe her or a word that she reminds me of, it would be the sun
When you wake up you see a calming sunrise and start your day with a positive,
a sign of hope and as the day comes near its end,
the sun reminds you of that same sign, but with a gorgeous and magical sunset
She is that sun that even on the worst days you can see her and she will put a smile on your face
That’s her
Cold tears with small sad faces run down our cheeks,
Drop, drop as they instantly land on our parked feet,
Our eyes, full of sorrow, stare out of the windows and doors,
These are barriers keeping us from our beloved ones,
Drop, drop cold tears with small sad faces run down our cheeks,
We have been stuck indoors for weeks and weeks,
We have become the rough roots of trees, stuck in the soil,
Clink, bang, the only noses you hear coming from the near workers,
The city, the country, the world has never been so quiet,
Corona is the hardest battle yet, it’s army is stronger than ours,
Corona is like solid rock, and we are little ants,
How should we escape? How should we survive?
Drop, drop, tears with small sad faces run down our cheeks,
From time to time, the sad faces are turning into smiles,
This is because… because… because…
They land on the lap of a warm-hearted person,
Who would love to care for us for no obvious reason,
Brother, sister, mum and dad,
Thanks for making me smile when I am sad…
RUNNER UP