Poetry Writers' own competition 08

Poetry Writers’ Yearbook own competition

The closing date is 30th June 2008.

The competition is open to all.

Enter the Poetry Writers' Yearbook 2008 poetry competition and you could win:

* a cash prize of £300, or £500 of A & C BlackClick for A & C Black Publishers Publishers References listing books
* publication of your poem on the A & C Black website
* publication of your poem in the Poetry Writers' Yearbook 2009
* publication of your poem on www.writersservices.com.

All you have to do is write a poem of no more than 30 lines, on the theme of 'Desire'.

You have to register on their website to enter this competition. Go to:

http://www.acblack.com/poetrycompetition/

Article by Gordon Kerr on judging competitions and especially last year's Poetry Writer's Yearbook competition.

Below we are publishing the poem by last year's winner, which is © Michael J Woods

CALLOW END

Cows, mist-drowned, merge with sheep
in this soft focus Malverns morning.
Powick church has shivered out of night.
The sun is a white-hot coin struck
in the mint of the sky, unquenchable
and incensed by vapour from the fields.
Nothing is not what it seems as the river floods
and water strains to wed itself to land.
The horizon shimmers like the inside of a forge
or quivering air around the after burner
of the low flying jet that sometimes scuds the hills.

Taking the bend, I see the village announce itself
in what seems to be a claim to wisdom;
the sign is bald - blocks of black on white.
But this isn't Italy. It doesn't warn with a red slash
that its limits have been reached. So, I sweep
beyond its parish pale, apparently boundless
but sensing the car break some meniscus
as it passes deep magnetic fields.

In this winter's wet and ice it's odd to think
the hedges hangar what will fledge and fly.
So, I signal, put my foot down and roll the car
over the camber to avoid the wash of what might
overtake me. A rear-view glance is all it takes
to show the whole reflected shrinking scene -
less substance than accident, and the open road ahead.

Poetry Writers' Yearbook article about ePoetry and eZines.