Junior Poetry Prize

Congratulations to Tania Stokes, who for the second year in a row has won the Junior Poetry Prize, this time for her poem 'Metaphorest'. 

Well done also to Megan Bulbulia, Imogen Casey, Harry Oke-Osanyintolu, Guy Fitzgibbon and Sol Guitart Rivero, who receive Distinctions for their entries, some of which will be published here.


'Metaphorest'
by Tania Stokes

The springtime garden was in bloom,
Pansies and cosmos, tulips and roses,
Ivy clambering up the trellis.
Purples, pinks and whites and yellows
Surrounded me, as I sat on the deck.
The sunlight filtered through the eucalyptus
And I used to go to far-off places;
I could sometimes hear the sea.

One day, you floated here on the breeze,
Planting yourself into my life.
The garden was never quite the same
Once you began to spread,
Your brambles tangling, choking the competition.
Shadows fell over the house,
As you rose up to dominate it all,
Holding me in your thorny grasp.

You had taken over completely.

The wind changed, come Autumn
When you blossomed into something richer.
You finally brought forth your sweetness,
As ripe blackberries sprung up everywhere.
Each one was a memory full of flavour,
And as we shared them, I knew
That you had taken root in my heart.