CREATIVE WRITING
BONUS WEEK 8. WINNERS
Our creative writing competition ended last week but we decided to run a 'bonus' week because of the many entries we received this week!
We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who took part.
Here are the winners for bonus week 8 of our competition:
CATEGORY 1: Previously Published Writers:
Poem, Mary Anne Smith by Valerie Bryce
Mary Anne Smith
Mary Anne Smith, pea shooter, knocker upper
And infamous interrupter of dreams
On London’s East Side Streets
In the 1930’s.
Pulled on her shoes at 3am each morning
Toes upturned
And with her tools of trade in hand
Entered into the dark.
Soot sodden air and brick
Housing worker’s wrapped in sleep
Street lamps yellow glow
Illuminates the theatre below
Mary-her cardigan pockets sagging
With dried out peas
Unfurls herself majestically
Poised like a Greek goddess
Assumes the formidable grace
Of actors she would never see.
Hand on hip, instrument to lips
A stance unique to one of her station
Looks upwards, blows and pip, pip, pip
The warmest sound
To rouse the human cogs
Of the industrial revolution.
Was it imagination
Drove her stoic will to persevere?
Fantasies of what went on
Behind the panes of glass?
Whole tenement blocks of trains to be caught
Factories and marketplaces to be filled
Town houses full of lover’s embraces
To be detangled.
And Mary at the centre of it all
Fraying the edges of dreams
Their threads unravelling
Into patches
Like the cuffs of her sleeves.
Announcing a new dawn
Though fourteen of her sixteen children dead
Her diligence and pride earned her 6 pence a week
Morning angel of the East Side streets
Held together at the seams
Bravely heralding the sunlight up ahead.
*****************
CATEGORY 2: Unpublished writers
Our winner is Anne McDonald with poem, Three Hours Out
Three Hours Out
We got the call three hours out to sea
I know that we were thinking all the same
I wonder is it him or is it me?
We had no choice but wait the hours out
with endless cigarettes and cups of tea,
too harsh for crackling radio to explain
I hope that it was them and wasn’t me.
We made talk so small it meant nothing;
the haul we got, the time we lost the nets,
and when I won the each way bet
but still the time dragged every minute single
out of three excruciating hours, coated in
the sour smell of oilskins mixed with salt.
I listed all the possibles for heartache
knowing each man counted out the same.
Was the family affected theirs or was it ours?
Strong men rendered naked in the rain.
As we turned for home and braced against the wind
a small crowd gathered silent on the quay,
my head spun somewhere between fear and hope
I wished that it was them and wasn’t me.
Our hearts broke for the man whose news it was,
as hands reached down to haul him from the deck,
words whispered on the winds were “cot” and “death.”
Feeling glad then sickened with the shame,
but knowing it was not my news to claim.
We got the call three hours out to sea
I wished it wasn’t him, that it was me.
Remembering Baby Ryan Minto, born April 18th, 1996 and died on the night of his Mammy’s birthday in June 1996, aged 9 1/2 weeks. See www.lindaminto.com
****************
CATEGORY 3: Young writers
Poem The Ballad of The Seasons by Ava Harrison (10yrs)
The Ballad of The Seasons
Yellow Springtime.
Cute, flourishing lambs, The magical new life, at
the start of a wonderful year. The viridescent
leaves of the weeping willow trees, Egg filled
nests with pollen in the air, Making people
wheeze and sneeze away. Beautiful dew drops,
falling from the lushious rain showers, to
naturally water the plants that we will later
harvest. New puppies, kittens, calves, goat kids
with little hooves, jumping around in the green
fields, shaking off the winter feelings and
springing into the springtime. Patterned
butterflies and stripy bees, And the fluffy chicks,
yellow as cheese.
The Summer Green.
The soft, sandy beaches. Swimming in the
pool, The aquatic blue. Jumping over
waves, splashing in the water, fluid motions
of the sea, ripples in the ocean as the tide
comes in excited, running free. Cotton
candy clouds in the skies. A cascade of
green and blue flowing around the rock
pools. Dribbling ice cream melting with the
heat, and waves surrounding my feet.
The salty air fills the land with a fresh, new and wonderful
smell. Seagulls, feathered frenzies of chaos, cawing and
stalking your fish and chips.
Orange Autumn Leaves.
Halloween approaching, Fallen leaves of orange,
brown, red and green, leave trees to freeze. Say
goodbye to longer days, the night now longer, stays.
The air, now colder, makes us wear thicker layers. The
leaves crunch underfoot as you walk across the
frost-glazed concrete. The misty mysteriousness, and
the sticky, delicious toffee apples. Jack ‘O lanterns
illuminate the empty street, with a hint of blue inside
their smiles. Forest animals begin their long slumber
until the blossoms bloom again.
The Cold, Blue Winter.
Winter winds blow, Children wishing for snow. The stocky evergreen leaves, with pines on them that smell radiant. Protecting the squirrels above and the small foxes, badgers and mice that live or hibernate below, the deer munching loudly on the leaves and bark, having a winter snack. Cozy, dark, colder days, when the sun does come, it sheds a dim glow, rays of light bring us a short day, and subsequently, the longer night. Shooting stars in the clear, moonlit skies. Nights sat in, watching festive movies, full of cheer. Sipping hot-chocolate. Feeling lucky to be sheltered in the colder times. Billowing chimneys, full of smokey grey clouds, that float upwards and upwards, dissipating into thin air.
A robin sitting on a glimmering branch with a dash of snow. Snowflakes, those small masterpieces perfected by nature
itself. Blankets, stories and candy-canes. Twinkling lights,
natural or not, are beautiful in their own way. And giving
presents, and seeing the look on peoples faces, full of joy
when they see the gift you put effort into choosing or making
for them.
The seasons are so beautiful,
They make me feel so
wonderful, They all have
special and unique qualities,
Just like each of us.
****************
Congratulations to the winners of our Bonus Week 8 Creative Writing competition. You will be receiving a €50 One4all voucher and a book voucher from our partner, Books on the Green, Sandymount.
We will be running more competitions soon so please check our website and social media posts for updates and we will continue creating podcasts narrated by Anne Doyle.
