Competition Entry

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.

We used to play together having lots of fun,
But now I’m alone in the garden staring at the hot hot sun,
I guess I can Facetime, but it’s not the same,
And sadly now are lives our grey and lame,
Let’s look at the positives now,
I’ve baked a cake and my Dad said WOW,
There is one thing that I’ve practised a lot,
Outside gymnastics, boy is it hot!
The old times will come back soon,
But right now we’re stuck with this virus,
So why not practise a tune.

Mum was in the kitchen,
Dad was in the garden,
Nan was in the pantry,
Letting the chocolate harden.

Sis was in the bedroom,
Bro was in the car,
Grandad was in the garage,
Yelling at bro “You’ve gone to far!”

That was in the happy times,
Where we could play all day,
Now our lives are being crushed,
Our days are sad and grey.

You can’t see friends or family,
Like Grandad or Nan,
The only way to communicate,
Is on FaceTime so thank goodness we can,

But let’s think of the happy things,
Like you don’t have to go to school,
You can do some baking too,
You’ll make a cake that’s cool,

So think of all the people,
In hospital without their mum and dad,
Moaning and groaning in so much pain,
Your life is not too bad!

WINNER

We looked at the landscape before us,
A blanket of golden flowers,
Surrounded by mountains like the walls of a house,
The cotton wool clouds, atop the snowy peaks.

We look at each other,
Hearts pounding,
Eyes widening,
Not a word was said,
We were off!

Off across the field of sun beams,
Off across the sweets scented meadow.
Grasshoppers and crickets leaping in a wake,
Our legs striding in unison.

We didn’t know what we were running for,
We didn’t know where we were going,
But we kept going for the true joy of it.

WINNER

On lightest day, through darkest night,
The forest is large and glorious.
When trees shall fall, feel my might,
I will be great and victorious!

With emerald eyes, when very pure,
I stretch my wings in flight.
Though rubies may form, when it’s time to lure,
You all shall see the light.

You’ll feel the breeze, then face the mountains,
Where the sun is beginning to grow.
Just wait there, beside the fountain,
Then you will see me glow.

No darkness will escape my hold,
Never evil in sight.
To all who are kind and pure, Behold!
And feel my beauty and light!

My symbol is the willow,
Harnesser of breeze.
My name is Willow,
Guardian of the trees.

WINNER

Nature is beautiful
And I will never believe that
Earth is a wasteland
It is clear
That there are endangered animals on this Earth
Why should I care
For hunters that kill for nothing
I am expressing myself
Stop the violence
Don’t
Let them die
Trees are cut down
Plants are uprooted
Help them
Don’t
Watch birds fly away from home
Make a difference to the world
It would not be wise to
dispose off garbage in our oceans
Happily
Prevent innocent lives from being captured
Consider yourself weak if you
Pollute the air that we all breathe
Care about the Earth the way it cares for you
It’s a lie that you should
Throw garbage everywhere you go
You should make the Earth a better place
And never say
Nature is horrible

(Now read the poem backwards to get the reality of the way nature is being treated by humans in this world)

WINNER

Kissing a dragon is dangerous,
even if you love one a lot.
and it’s hard to give one a cuddle,
his breath is much too hot!

Nobody ever gives him a kiss,
not his mum or granny or dad,
nobody ever kisses him better-
if he falls then it’s just too bad.

If we fed dragons on ice cubes,
and they sucked them hard,
their breath would smoke so gently,
that there’d be time for one quick kiss!

WINNER

You taught me to tend for the wild,
in places where it had been quelled,
that the growth of stray wildflowers in gaps,
between the concrete of a postcard patio,
was better than a naked lawn.

As we globe-trotted amidst islands
of cigarette stubs and half-chewed gum,
making colonies on the ground,
tessellating into a synthetic Pangea,
you showed me burly roots of urban trees

breaking through uneven asphalt,
like a finger through an eggshell,
a snake of vascular tissue,
beneath a man-made facade.

That night you told me stories of Pan,
syrinx in palm, galloping through woodlands,
winking at wood nymphs.
But the only rustic music I could hear,
was of traffic and men, on too much drink.

The only woodlands I could see,
were found between plastic neon swings
in drooling play areas,
mimicking the idea of greenery.

And then, I understood why,
city trees grow fast, but die young.

Runner Up

You can just look at water fall and be amazed
Its something that can make your spirits be raised
The grass, the birds and the trees
Can make pretty much make anyone be pleased
All you can hear is the sound of nature
Every day when you walk outside, you don’t realize it
But your life is getting greater
Just imagine walking into such a magical place
You slowly walk around because you know it’s not a race
You see birds take off into the sky.
In a click they are super high
It would be a dream to win
If I won I would do a big, big spin

Springing squirrel,
run and leap,
playing a game of
hide and seek.
Camouflaged in
gold-brown leaves,
finding, cracking,
nuts with ease.