Poetry Competition 2023

School Years 6-7 Runner-Up

“What has happened to Wendy?”  by Adam Zbigniew Viñales
 
What has happened to Wendy, Mother?
What has happened to Wendy?
There's nothing in her bed but her teddy bear
And by its side a penny.
 
Why are her arms wide, Mother?
Both of them flapping free,
And only a tape on her dusty cheek
Where' her red spot used to be.
 
Why do you turn around, Mother?
And why does the tape just fall?
And why do you put that candle on the beach
And say it is not for Wendy at all?
 
I woke to Dad calling us last night.
I heard that Wendy was going to die.
Why do you tell me the things I heard
Was Wendy going: AIIE?
 
I heard Wendy cry, Mother,
In anger or in pain,
But now I ask you why, Mother,
You say it was a scream of vain.
 
Why do you wander about as though
You don't know what-to do?
What has happened to Wendy, Mother?
What has happened to Wendy?
  
Judge Charlie Durante’s Comments:
 “Adam Zbigniew with What has happened to Wendy?  This poem has the unsettling ambiguity of some of the most disturbing nursery rhymes.  Is Wendy a girl, a doll, a revenant, a mere projection of the speaker’s unconscious?  Why is her bed empty?  Has Wendy been maltreated, assaulted, bruised (that tape ‘on dusty cheek’ could hide a haematoma).  The repetition of ‘What has happened to Wendy’ is insistent and upsetting. There is something manic about it and creates a feeling of despair and hopelessness.  The ‘AIIE’ expresses the pain and anger that drive the poem.  Adam has created a nightmare poem which will puzzle many readers and make them wish they never come across Wendy!”

School Years 6-7 Highly Commended

“The Tale of the Proud Robin Redbreast” by Lilly Alfred
 
In the sunny forest, filled with moss and greens,
Sat a little robin, happy as can be,
For his name was Starling, and proud of himself was he,
As he had the most magnificent voice ever to be seen!
 
And - oh - he sure did know this, for his voice was heard for hours,
Singing loudly on and on that it wilted flowers,
But all the animals would groan and grumble,
For all the singing that Starling did made them horribly sour!
 
One day the animals decided enough was enough,
'Just stop singing of we'll kick you out' they all said with a huff,
But - for Starling - this was quite tough,
For he loved to boast and bluff!
 
So, Starling kept on chirping,
And all the animal's ears never did stop hurting,
Making them all mutter under their breaths, cursing,
But all except a clever fox known as Christopher Turing!
 
As I said before, Chris was a clever fox,
He had once made a trap with only string and a box,
So he hatched a witty little plan to get the bird to shut up,
And if it worked peace and tranquility would never stop!
 
So Turing set off to Starling's tree,
A place the bird would always be,
Then called out to Starling, 'Stirling, my dear, come down you clever chap' 'For I have a special treat for you, right under my cap!'
 
Starling fluttered down from a twig,
Right into a place where Turing would dig,
When Turing - that clever fox - covered Starling in a net he had brought, And now silly Starling had been properly caught!
 
Turing brought Starling into his lair,
A secret hideout used by the first known mayor,
Down there was the smell of a boiling pot
For Starling was about to become a robin broth!
 
The fox cooked the bird (his feathers plucked, of course) so that was that,
And the boastful robin's story was needed with a splat,
So, to all the proud people in this world,
Please do not end your life like that of that silly old bird.
 
 Judge Charlie Durante’s Comments:
 “Lilly Alfred with The Tale of the Proud Robin Redbreast.   From the time of Aesop, animal fables have exercised their fascination and provided admonitory lessons for human beings.  Lilly’s poem falls within this tradition, with the Robin representing pride, boastfulness, and a lack of concern for others.   Robin ignores the pleas of his feathered friends and carries on chirping annoyingly. Then, as we expect, nemesis appears in the form of a wily fox.  The robin falls for the fox’s smooth talk, flies down from his branch, and ends up in a pot, reduced to ‘robin broth.’  The poem is beautifully crafted with nine four line stanzas and alternating rhymes of abba, ccdc, eeee………(it would take too long to cover the whole poem), but Lilly has taken pains to keep the rhyme going and fresh.  An interesting poem with a salutary morale.”