Junior Poetry Prize, 2017

Congratulations to Tania Stokes, winner of this year's Junior Poetry Prize. Here is her entry, and other good entries will be posted in coming days.

'Resonance' by Tania Stokes 

I balanced on the strings. 
Light as a tightrope walk: 
Tentative, timid.
The first sound crept
At the draw of the bow 
Like some small creature 
From the dark. 

I missed my mark.
The tone not true,
My arrow flew into 
Nothing. The music played 
Itself in my head. Pure, 
Featherweight. Nimble. 
Lacking. 

I composed myself;
I could see it, crystalline, 
The filigree lines.
I fixed my aim.
No stray note would escape. 
I would catch it
And carve it to perfection. 

But I was mistaken
In my reflection.
A cello’s purpose
Is not to take away –
Music grows. Its source?
A spark. Music throws flames 
To the dark, illuminates hearts. 

I reached deep, my arrow
Steeped in power. The melody,
I let it fly and it soared high –
It felt alive. I dived
Into the rising tide, and once inside, 
I let it carry me to shore.
Music is more than perfection.