Congratulations to Stephanie Lester who came runner-up in the Word Festival Science Poetry Competition with her poem 'A Dress to Wear in the Lab'

The competition involved writing a poem on a science based topic. The judge, Helen Heath, commented that "This poem, about a scientist (I am guessing Marie Curie), stood out for its fresh take on a frequently written topic and its beautiful imagery." 

A Dress to Wear in The Lab

Thumb propped on a test tube,
You stand on the bow,
Of the ship you built
from dolls and skipping ropes

Hand in hand,
You walk ahead of footprints,
Carving your own sculpture
Two hearts at a time

Sketching numbers into sentences
And those into meaning
The hard backed chair
One test tube in a drawer

Work burnt through your pockets
Staining your skin
A tattoo: 84, 88
With an immortal glint

Stolen by your work
Not a slave in the dust
But a conductor,
Bowing under the lights of a stage

Stephanie Lester
Year 13