Today in the Laois Education Centre Olivia Plunket receives her joint third prize in the annual senior national poetry competition run by the SLSS for Teaching English magazine. Michael Kemp was also Highly Commended for his poem 'I am'. Olivia wrote her poem in response to the stunning 1599 painting 'Judith and Holofernes' by Caravaggio (click here for a large image):-
'Judith and Holofernes' by Olivia Plunket
Draping curtains as red as blood
The maid will encourage Judith
As she enters the realm of reality.
Holofernes’s hand clenching
The blood-stained sheets
Upon which his body lies.
His shoulder arching forward,
His muscles pulsing.
Outside the frame his legs are thrashing,
As he tries to fight his fate,
Screaming to his saviour in the heavens.
'Judith and Holofernes' by Olivia Plunket
Draping curtains as red as blood
The maid will encourage Judith
As she enters the realm of reality.
Holofernes’s hand clenching
The blood-stained sheets
Upon which his body lies.
His shoulder arching forward,
His muscles pulsing.
Outside the frame his legs are thrashing,
As he tries to fight his fate,
Screaming to his saviour in the heavens.
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