Poetry Competition 2011 Winning poems

Under 8s

First prize

Games by Leah Green

Games for me
Games for you
Games for one
Games for two

Games in the street
Games in the park
Games in the daytime
Games in the dark

Games in the playground
Games in the class
Games in the school hall
Games on the grass

Games in the winter
Games in the sun
Games are exciting
Games are fun

I like playing games with EVERYONE!

Second prize

Games and More by Shannon Butt

Games big  Games small
Games you play with a ball
Play hopscotch with a chalk and a pebble
Or play a quiet game of scrabble
Play a fun run game
Win the game get champagne

Third prize

Games by Erin Elsie Richards

There are all sorts of different games to play;
Educational ones are fun in a way.
My favourite card games are snap and
Pairs; chase the ace, Top Trumps when I am sat
On the stairs

I love playing board games with my fantastic
Mum, we play Bus Stop, Shopping List,
Scrabble, Guess Who and Connect 4
We like to play these best on the floor

We really enjoy playing on the
Apple computer and the games are so much fun.
My brother prefers Fifa on his PSP, but I love
My DS better. So games are super fun to play, why not
Put them on your Christmas list today!

---

8 to 11 year olds

First prize

Games by Findlay Hutchins

Games are fun.
Games are clever.
Games. I play in every weather.

Some are thinking.
Some are guessing.
Some are tidy.
Some are messing.

I like Mario.
I like Find-It.
I like my bike, and Bop & Wind it.

Second prize

Alphabet Games - or should I say 'A-Z Fun' by Rowan Hutchins

Badminton is sporty and quick.
Chess is complex, so take your pick.
Dress-up games are fun and frilly.
Elixir is mixing ingredients which are silly.
Find It. You need to use your eyes.
Golf. You could win a prize.
Hungry Hippos are staving and fast.
It, is a game that's meant to last.
Jenga. To pick your prize you need to be sly.
Keepy-Uppy. Keep the ball up high.
Land, Sea & Air. Be speedy to land.
Monopoly. Move the counters by hand.
Noughts and Crosses. You need to think.
Operation. Make sure the heart goes pink.
Push the button. You need to be nifty.
Quiddich on broom sticks. Fly to fifty.
Roulette. Be clever, betting your chips.
Scrabble. Score 17 with the word ‘equips’.
Trivial Pursuit needs old-age wit.
Up & Down is just like Hit.
Vingt-et-Un. Stick or Twist, casino game.
Word Search. Not much to say. Doesn't compare to a game.
X-Marks the Spot to make glad.
Yahtzee. Match 5 dice or you’ll be sad.
Zip Zap. If you're Zip, then your friend is Zap.
Zip Zap, Zip Zap, Zip Zap, Zip Zap.
Pretty boring eh?
Well it’s over now so take your hands off you ears
And put them back on your lap.

Third prize

The Apple Tree by Henry Moram

With a hop, skip and jump,
Spin, bounce and glide.
There's many ways of fun,
Like finding a place to hide.
Come and seek me sister,
Underneath the apple tree.
For I have a gift for you,
Just count up to three.
Come and join me sister dear,
seek me where I hide.
Don’t take to long sister,
Be with me by my side.
You have found my hiding place,
My speciel little nook.
Where I like to dream,
And where I read my book.
Come join me little sister,
For we have the day.
To watch the clouds change shapes,
From whence I lay.
Hear the wind now blow
Be with me while I pray.

---

12 to 15 year olds

First prize

The New Boy by Rachel Driscoll

The new school year began today,
I'm now in school year 10!
It was rather strange to go back to school,
Strange to be back again.

There were old friends from last school year
Like Lizzie, and Sarah too.
But one face I saw captured me,
I knew that he was new

He worked well, but when asked to speak
A silence could only be heard
He stuttered, lips trembled, and tried again,
But couldn't form the word.

The class started laughing, I didn't join in,
Just watched him looking so forlorn.
I wish I had spoken up, told them to stop,
But I let them laugh him to scorn

After school I heard Jamie mention some fun,
And Horace mention 'a game'.
I followed them out, to see what they meant,
And since then I haven't felt the same

The boy with the stutter was walking outside,
They taunted him, threw stones.
They pushed him in the mud, and laughed and jeered
And everyone smiled at his moans.

I just let them do it, I didn't butt in
I was scared. Which puts me to shame.
But now I ask, why? Why? WHY?
Oh, why do they call it a game?

Second prize

Olympic Word Spin by Rachel Driscoll

The Olympic Games of 2012 are just around the bend
I'm going to watch them on the TV from beginning to end
I just know that they'll be good and that we’ll all have a swimming time,
Sports really are just my thing, they really are just sublime!

I do so wish that I could compete, I really would be game,
Maybe carry that famous torch, so all might know my name.
If I could perform for the Olympics, it would be really swell!
If I could, I would do my best, I really would serve well!

The time is ever racing, the Olympics are so near,
To think our country’s hosting, it makes me want to cheer.
I do so hope that we do well, or I'll go up the pole,
Great Britain always does her best, so winning is our goal!

If we do well, I'll jump for joy I'll shout and do a vault,
I'll run around the largest field, and do a summersault!
But if we don't do very well and prove to play the chump
Great Britain, I assure you, will be for the high Jump!

But I guess we'll have to wait and see what the result will be!
A real competitive face-off is just what I want to see!
As the time is pressing forward, we will be ready to strike
We'll all be behind Great Britain, everyone alike

Now I have made my point and said what I want to say
I just hope that we all have fun, and enjoy it as they play!
And so the time draws nigh when they'll light those sacred flames
So lap up the excitement, and bring on the Olympic Games!

Third prize

By Charlotte Allman

Sometimes I wonder where I should go?
Do I fight Aliens on Halo
Or go to the shallow depths no one knows?

On Mario never find that invincible star
Instead I end up driving a Gran Turismo car

I could play gears of war and watch people bleed,
or run around in renaissance Italy in assassins creed

Maybe bring my moves to the dance floor on Just dance 3
Or scream at the TV playing the epic grand prix

In call of duty watching the enemies from afar,
Then put on to Batmans black radar
Chase the bad guys!

In Grand Theft Auto clearing crime.
But Sonic was so fast I guess I ran out of time.

---

16 and over

First prize

Lewis Chessman by Pamela Trudie Hodge

Master Carver, did your brows draw down,
Your eyes ache in the fitful shadows thrown
By the flickering flame of whale-oil lamp?
Did you breathe warmth on to your hands,
Nordic-cold, as you carved walrus ivory
To coronets and shields while the long
Night swallowed the sunless hours?

The sands of Uig could not dull your artistry.
Mounted on caparisoned horses, knights
Are battle-ready, phallic spears thrusting.

Pawns were easy, geometric, their carving
Saved for the end of the day, their smoothness
Hiding an ambition to be a crownless queen.

Did your lips smile when you fashioned your
Rooks as wild eyed berserkers biting their shields,
Fierce battle-fury gripping their ivory minds?

Your bishops unchanged by time, moving
Obliquely, covering their weakness, worth
Only the value offered by the Holy Trinity.

Master Carver, you have made your king
Regal, infinitely valuable and yet all he seeks
Is the safe haven of the board’s corner,

Deserting his queen. When you carved
Her was your tongue held firmly in your cheek?
Scholars say her hand is held to her face
In contemplation but is she wondering who,
This time, will take her? She cannot choose
But must accept the one who is game to try.
For the queen is any-one’s, a harlot in ivory.

Second prize

Now and Then by Anita McQuade

Fetid air awash with brewing testosterone;
The darkness punctuated by the flickering screen.
Animated heroes fight slime and gore as
Monsters take control, battle for earth.

His combat with the aliens continues long into the night
Exercising his thumbs; staining his unblinking eyes
His face a mask of scowling concentration,
He lies prone on the tumbled bed.

Immobile in his splendid isolation.

I watch through the crack of the door and worry.

I recall long distant days spent in wooded splendour.
Climbing, chasing, rolling, squealing with excitement.
Cops and robbers; Erkey; Hide and seek;
Rope-swings across the river.

Jam sandwiches in the shelter of soon-to-be autumn’s carpet
Helmetless bike rides home through the trees.
Each day saw new bruises on our knees and battered elbows,
Each night we took home our happy exhausted bodies to sleep,

Dreaming of tomorrow's play.

I watch through the crack of the door and mourn.

Third prize

Games by Gillian McNulty

Now I'm all of eighty-one
Recalling GAMES when I was young
Wooden hoops raced in the street
Or hopscotch, skipping, busy feet
At play. Siblings joined in all together -
Chosen LEADER, then said whether
Be "HIDE AND SEEK" or "NUTS IN MAY"
Or slides down hill, on washing tray –
Perhaps "RING OF ROSES" for the small
"ROUND THE MULBERRY TREE" fair suited all!
A motor car was very rare
To interrupt our "DO OR DARE".
Often a cart, horses may heave,
And on our patch their droppings leave
Someone then would fetch their dad,
Horse manure would make him glad -
He'd rush to scoop it for his roses,
Watched by children, holding noses!
Just where those beasts had plonked and walked
Our HOPPING SQUARES need to be re-chalked,
Got ready for the fun once more
With chanting, laughter as before!
With age-old rhymes of yesterday
We boys and girls come out to play!
Now, with computers and TV,
Playstations and technology –
Whatever GAMES invented next,
The answer can be sent by text!
So old ones, new ones, many names
Hoorah for all the splendid GAMES!

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