Congratulations to one of our Prep students, Elspeth, who has written her way to the final of the Independent Schools Association's 2020 Poetry Competition!
According to the ISA, the largest number of entries came from their junior schools entries and the standard was extremely high. The judges said that it was a very difficult job to select just three very clever and able poets, but that the three they chose did stand out.
The judges' feedback about Elspeth's poem read as follows:
"This is an exceptionally clever piece of poetic work with structure an no rhymes. Elspeth writes of one moment in life with great imagery and in our imaginations, we can almost smell the grass and the faithful horse's breath."
Here is Elspeth's poem:
Everything All At Once
It was there right in front of me; my life
Laid out; a feast, polished, shining,
My life was changing, no turns in the road
Hair tied up finished with a bow.
Sun beating down casting shadows
A shiver down a spine, not mine,
Furry soft ears and a tail swished in my face.
Here I am in my favourite place.
I go round to the left side tail swishes
In my face one more time and up
Onto the leather, feet in the stirrups
Kick on; dusty smell in my lungs.
The rhythm of legs, the beat of his walk,
Kick into trot over the jump,
Canter over the jump, then I'm falling
Onto the soft lush grass, then crack!
The glasses I'm wearing fall to the ground,
As I stand up and look around,
There are my new glasses broken in two,
There will be some words about that.
Hooves thunder, the sound ringing in my ears
Those dusty smells filling my lungs,
He's right there, staring, looking at me now,
Just like nothing happened to me.
But something did happen,
I rub my eyes
I pick up the shimmering glass,
Confidence fills me even though I can't see.
Tail swishes in my face and the dusty smell,
Soft grass, flys buzzing, all at once.
Something did happen, everything all at once.
I wouldn't ever change a thing.