AMBER MANE by Ed Phillips

Art and Power

Amber Mane woven with silk
Creases of bay flesh
Desperate, anxious
The gods are furious
Horse Gallops from the storm
Coat shines with sweat and rain
Urgent hooves strike the earth
Lightening stripes the muzzle

The judges at Poetry Can chose this poem, a response to the Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming as it brilliantly captures and reflects the energy, vitality, drama and spirit of the photograph by casting images of a horse galloping through a storm sent by furious gods.  The use of sharp, striking words, brevity and tight rhythm perfectly release the subject into wild, urgent life.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA.

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CAMEL CONCERT by James Nass

Elmwood Special School in Bridgewater

I'm watching the camels

Wearing sunglasses

They are playing rock guitars

They can feel hard rock under their hooves

There is a smell of chilli sauce, hot and spicy

And they will be singing WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!!

The judges at Poetry Can chose this poem, a response to the Dromedary Caravans near Nouakchott, Mauritania for its images of cool rocking camels playing guitars and singing Queen songs, the poem shows that poetry can have as sense of humour. Maybe it might be the kind of mirage you might see if you were lost in the desert, but it is certainly a funny and delightfully surprising poem.

Caravan of dromedaries

Nouakchott, Mauritania.

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PATCHWORK OF CARPETS by Ellie Carr

Barrs Court Primary School

The carpets, it's like walking along different parts of the world

Is there an end?

It seems like you've been walking for a lifetime

You don't know now when to stop or where to stop

It's like you're trapped inside an empty soul

No one around no one to talk to

Everything almost disappeared its just you

Its like a maze, you want to get out but you just don't know how

You're empty inside

You want to smile buy you just can't, its like your locked up

It's almost like someone's thrown away the key to your happiness!!!

The judges at Poetry Can chose this poem, a response to Patchwork of Carpets in Marrakech, Morocco as it is a powerful and dramatic poem about loss and feeling trapped and alone in a world that seems to be like a maze without ending. It strikes a chilling and disturbing note. It is a remarkable work for one so young and shows a great dramatic and emphatic promise.

Patchwork of Carpets

Marrakech, Morrocco.

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Olivia Preston

How could you understand the life I lead?

It's so far removed from your Western greed

And what do you care about our fate

Or the lack of food upon my child's plate?

From cradle to grave your life is protected

Don't once give a thought to how I'm neglected

I hope you never know the ache inside

Of watching your child starve, with tears you hide

You take for granted clean water, basic food

Now do you understand my black mood?

If each one of you pledged to end our plight

It would help us survive our daily fight

Deborah Evans

The patterns of my life are mapped in full

And darkness threatens with its silent weight

I feel each footstep by its heavy pull

My will is overshadowed by my fate

I thirst to leave the path that I must tread

To break the confines of my narrow life

To shatter all the shackles of my dread

And gently loosen painful bonds of strife

Yet in following where others lead me on

I'm drawn more surely and more safely to the light

No matter where I tread I can't go wrong

A golden warmth protects me, come what might

My eyes are on the stars, my head is high

I walk in friendship and the world goes by

Abbey Williams

The Carpets are like a huge map

The man has picked the map

And he's walking on it

He sees all the different colours and patterns

Like fields and rivers and roads

He's trying to find his favourite

Which is the pink one that smells of musty perfume

Gwyneth L Jones

You have no idea what it feels like to see hundreds of starving kids selling magnificent carpets for about £1 each

Especially if you happen to be watching them from the window of a brand new KX5000 helicopter

I thought that a trip abroad would be the best ever,

Finally we could put to use Dad's long awaited bonus

I thought "I'll be like all the other kids at the school that go away."

That holiday was amazing, but probably not in the sense that you think,

What I mean is that I was amazed

Amazed by all the inequalities in this world

Amazed at how ignorant we are

You would not believe how humbling an experience it can be to ride in a brand new KX5000 helicopter

Kszandra Lawrence

The sun is out

The day is bright

The Camels march

Along their way

In the distance

The shadows play

An eerie partner

To the day

Emily Munoz

Man was sent to protect the world

But he did the opposite

Pollution Chopped trees

Dead animals

Bombed countries

A sacrificed world

Killing is what man does!