Poetry Awards and Accolades 2019
During Term Three, four of our students won places in poetry writing competitions, one regional, and two national.
We were delighted to hear that Year 13 student Olivia Bradfield was one of 20 runner-ups out of 186 contestants in this year’s National Schools Poetry Award, which is open to Year 12 and 13 students across New Zealand.
Olivia’s evocative piece ‘17’ was announced as a stand-out poem in this year’s collection on National Poetry Day, 23 August.
WriteNow Dunedin Secondary Schools Poetry Competition 2019
With great pleasure we also celebrated Darcy Monteath’s winning entry in the junior section and Abi Barton’s third place entry in the senior section of this year’s regional WriteNow Dunedin Secondary Schools Poetry Competition.
This is what judge Fiona Farrell had to say (https://writenow.nz/):
Judge’s Report
Thank you to all the young poets who submitted work to this year’s competition! It was a pleasure to read your work.
There were some fine poems here, but the most notable feature was that the Junior entries were so much stronger than the Senior section. I am not sure if this comes down to some very talented young writers at junior level, or to some individual teachers doing a better job of encouraging and developing natural talent. Either way, the poems submitted by the First place-getter in the Junior section were by far the best in the whole competition, whether for the Junior or Senior sections.
RESULTS:
Junior competition:
·First: ‘Overcoming grief in the form of birds‘ by Darcy Monteath, Year 10 Logan Park High School
This is an extraordinary poem, and far and away the best of all the poems, Junior and Senior, entered in this year’s competition.
The poet understands the power of metaphor, not just the birds but the landscapes they inhabit, beginning with the tarmac that is replaced suddenly round a corner by ‘everlasting fields’ and the kotuku with its ‘rounded shoulders’. The poem is a tangible realisation of the journey through grief to the moment where in a transcendent and utterly beautiful image, the poet faces ‘directly into the sun’ where bird that is also the father is ‘rising, singing’. The whole work is superbly structured and delivers real emotional weight.
A second poem submitted by the same poet was equally impressive. ‘Think White‘ is superbly crafted. The poet shapes the work around that introductory ‘Think…’ then proceeds to elaborate on three words: ‘candescent’, ‘ailment’ and ‘gleam’. The result is a highly sophisticated work, by a writer blessed with an acute sensitivity to language and an artist’s eye. The three sections are drawn together to form a tantalisingly elusive narrative, through colour and form. This is a young poet to watch.
· Senior competition:
·Third: ‘The Survival‘ by Abi Barton, Year 13 Logan Park High School
This poem tells a narrative of survival in just six stanzas. The poem begins with an evocation of the smells of a hospital, then explores the feelings of the poet watching someone they love going through a terrifying ordeal. With the final stanza, the whole poem lifts into celebration, filled with love and admiration.
Overcoming grief in the form of birds
After Sharon Telfer
Kotuku – Heron
The tarmac is gluey with the early-January heat,
a menacing black.
Concentrate
I tell myself
trying not to focus on the
Buzz buzz
in my right ear.
I take a left too fast.
Standing guard, there it is.
I’ve never seen one before.
There’s no water here,
only everlasting fields.
A luminous lead-white,
gnawed into gawky bones,
rounded shoulders
hiding,
but unmissable.
No matter how hard it tries
“peia te haumaru”
“What’s that, Dad?”
“It means…”
I take a left, slower this time and mutter it back,
“drive safe.”
Kereru – Wood Pigeon
Young kids scream, flapping their arms at them.
Mocking them
startled into a clattering flight,
survivors of the New Year haste
that soaks the streets.
One
stays grounded,
like a tame dog without a leash
it gives me a look.
That look.
“Dad?” only joking.
Black eyes glint rainbows in the hazy light.
That look again.
“Dad, is that you?” only half-joking.
Grief. A stupid concept.
Kārearea? – Falcon
Maybe.
Probably.
Hard to tell.
We pass too quickly.
Sharp movements, up straight.
Eyes scan anywhere and everywhere.
“What do I always say?”
“Keep a lookout, options open, Dad.”
Toutouwai – Robin
On fine days,
you can see the lookout from here.
Today’s not a fine day.
Every voice feels muted,
distorted
by bitter winds.
It’s summer but today reminds me of winter.
“The Toutouwai keeps singing through Winter, you know.”
Dad’s words
I can almost taste them.
A faint whistle hums and cuts through the heavy air.
“Only very few birds do that.”
The fog clears,
a little.
Piwakawaka – Fantail
The forest floor is dry today,
sun weeping onto the viscous floor
“They’re back!”
“They always come back,” says Dad.
From up close, we watch.
Staring contest
we win
because soon enough,
it’s gone.
Pihoihoi – Pipit
The noise comes first,
like glass shards on a mirror.
Then, you lift your head,
face directly into the sun.
“Be patient; you’ll see it if you look long enough.”
Up above, microscopic in the
perpetual blue.
I point to the sky.
Yes! Rising, singing!
“Dad.”
“I knew it.”
“I knew it was you.”
endless oblivion,
watching
the pihoihoi
for the last time
before it soars away
for who knows how long?
First (juniors)
Darcy Monteath - Year 10
Think White
Think candescent.
The way light from a hidden source
dances across this simple table,
forks, plates, a single bowl,
holding fruit, while the artist holds us captive
by the white of our eye,
strokes of blue, orange, purple,
trapped in the blank of the table sheet
and colours’ hearts beat, open their throats,
cloudy ice melting on the tongue,
the sweet perfume of summer fruits.
Think ailment
being in a room, this uneasy,
so perfect, yet everything off balance,
objects and shadows, seeping together
that table, threatening to overthrow
its contents onto the ground
shards of glass, bruised apples, squashed pear
at your feet.
The artist’s wife lets out a gasp
in the white of the walls, the figure
shuffles out of focus.
Think gleam,
the next time you open your eyes,
notice at how your eye works
peripheral vision,
how we see everything at once,
yet nothing at the same time.
Embrace it. The ambiguity
light is a figure, that holds things,
yet lets the smallest thing slip away.
How the table quivered slightly
and how the bowl held fear against
the white walls
with vermillion shadows.
Darcy Monteath - Year 10
Darcy was awarded first prize for ”Overcoming grief in the form of birds‘. ‘Think White’ was originally placed second by Fiona during the blind assessment of the entries. However the rules do not permit a poet to win more than one prize.
The Survival
An ache led to a hospital bed
As an unfamiliar odour swarmed my nostrils
Disinfectants and cheap perfume
Unpleasant mixture
He lay there
His skin turned pale
As he thought he would
Never again see the light of day
An ache led to strain
And my heart began to cry
A flood of questions carved
Their way into my thoughts
Why him?
His body deteriorated
But he pushed on through
A pain I couldn’t relate myself to
I couldn’t share
I felt bad
Terrible even
But I would never retreat
He grew limp
As the paralysis set in
A large mass engulfed his spine
It grew, feeding off him as it’s
Energy source
Dividing, reproducing, multiplying
I wondered if it would ever stop
A miracle walking
That’s what he is
I could never quite fathom
But one thing I was certain
I was so glad to know him
He beat it
Like he took a big swing
And the bat sent the ball flying
He is a conqueror, an overcomer
He is a cancer survivor
He is my hero
He is my dad
Third (seniors)
Abi Barton - Year 13
Poetry NZ Year Book Student Poetry Competition 2019
Poppy Haywood in Year 11 surprised us, just when we thought the poetry awards were handed out on National Poetry Day, by winning First Prize for Year 11 in the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook Student Poetry Competition.
Her poem ‘ABCDEFGHIJLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ’ is very clever, and can be found here, which can be shared: :https://issuu.com/masseypress/docs/pnzy_competition_poems_2019
As a winner, Poppy and the LPHS Library Poetry Collection received a copy of the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2019, and as a First Prize winner, Poppy’s poem will be published in the Poetry New Zealand Yearbook 2020, releasing in March 2020.
ABCDEFGHIJLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
ABCDEFGHIJLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
VARK. An acronym.
A name, a label, for four different learners.
Visual learners. They are lucky.
A single glance then bam! It's cemented in their minds forever.
Auditories. Be scared of conversing with them.
They'll remember it longer than you ever could.
R. Reading and writing. Loved by teachers worldwide.
Hand them notes and there you'll find a perfect student.
Lastly, Kinetic. The words: watched, heard, read, it all goes over their heads.
Give them something to do with their hands however, and they'll love you always.
School? Where does school fit into it?
School. A place dedicated to learning.
It excels in teaching VAR learners.
K? What about the K? No, no K. They always forget about the K.
ABCDEFGHIJLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Poppy Hayward - Year 11