Poetry Prize

Oisin Large was awarded a Commendation for his entries for the Peter Dix Memorial Prize for Poetry.  The judge, Mr Canning, said that they were 'impressive in terms of the feeling and thought behind them. I especially liked Father and Son.' 

Here are two of his poems, 'The Ash Tree' and 'Father and Son'.



The Ash Tree
 
I remember, the ash tree growing on the meadow.
I remember, watching his shadow,
Always the same – always happy, filling light into those who need it.
 
I remember, the keys that he would grow.
I remember, the doors he would know to open.
Opening his last, he met his fate.
 
I remember when winter came everything changed.
We tried to open his doors, but he stayed estranged.
When winter came I knew it was his last.
 
I remember when spring sprang, seeing him peel away.
Drifting further from the meadow, watching him turn gray.
Then the splinter became deep, I who remember his last cast.
 
He left behind his notion on the meadow,
I will give my devotion to follow that through.


 
Father and Son
 
With two strong shoulders he stands before me.
His short gray hair always sitting on his head.
Every day I watched him go to work.
Never knowing when he would come home
 
Waiting till he tucked me in to bed.
I loved his stories of the worldly knowledge that he taught our family
Leaving me was the worst he could have done to me.
Learning more and more as I travelled around the night with him.
 
I am my father’s son and his work.
 
Being young and foolish, I saw myself become like him at home.
Either way, we are father and son. No one can change that.
 
My mind works differently to those of my family.
Year after year he was before me
 
Fearing that I would never catch up,
Aiding the man that aided me,
Taking care of our home and family,
Hearing his travels from his work,
Either way, we changed. That’s the truth,
Rearing close behind me, he looks for me; he follows me, I am my father.