Winners of the New Zealand Poetry Day Competition 2014
These are the great poems that won our poetry-writing competition earlier this year. Fantastic work! Keep writing :-)
Overall Winner
Embarrassment
The colour of embarrassment is dark grey
The taste of embarrassment is sour
The smell of embarrassment is black
bananas
The look of embarrassment is a straight
face
The sound of embarrassment is silence
The feel of embarrassment are
butterflies
Embarrassment can look lots of ways to a
child
By Riley Anderson
Winner 8 years and under
Oil
fire
Bubbling, sizzling, like a sparkler
Sparkling in the dark, spitting,
Water is not handy,
Bright orange flames, I feel small and
frightened,
Boiling hot,
Oil fire
By Emma Clearwater
Winner 9 – 13 years
The
Orchestra
She lets her eyes wander over them,
Watching their every move.
They need to do their best tonight.
She remembers the long practises,
Their jokes and laughter.
Are they ready?
Tonight they must paint a work of art,
Their browns, greens, reds and yellows
blending together to create harmony.
She lifts her arms and beats a time.
They must be ready
He brings his violin to his chest, bow
on the strings,
Is he ready?
He remembers the dents on his fingers
after pressing down on the strings piece after piece.
He has practised hard for this moment.
Tonight, he will create a work of art
for the conductor
Making her proud of them all.
He is ready
They watch their children, up on stage,
ready to begin.
Are their children ready?
Have they practised enough?
They remember hearing sound billowing
out of bedrooms,
The excitement, the elation when
something went right.
Tonight, their children will paint a
work of art.
They are ready
She brings down her arms, and they
begin,
Sending the first notes floating away.
She watches as her students create a
work of art.
H sends music spinning, dancing,
weaving.
His violin in perfect harmony with the
other instruments.
He is creating a work of art
They watch in awe as their children
play.
In their minds, they witness a camel
train trek through a dry, dusty desert,
They imagine the planet Jupiter spinning
on its hinges,
They become spectators at a parade,
watching clowns, gymnasts, and jugglers.
Then it is over.
She bows, smiling.
Her students have done well.
He grins.
He has played well.
They clap and cheer.
They can still see the pictures their
children created in music in their heads
Their children have done well.
By Grace Shaw
Winner 14 – 19 years
Demons
She is what society wants her to be,
But not.
She is the mirror of perfection,
But it’s cracked
Her face is happy,
But her toughts are evil.
She’s like an open book,
With hidden pages.
When she speaks her words flow,
But really she’s muttering.
Her eyes are open,
But she wished they were closed.
She’s surrounded by people,
Yet she is alone.
She sits in silence,
And they whisper in her ear.
They are her demons,
The demons are her.
By Annalise Robertson
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