Traditional Publishing
Self-Publishing
Share

International Poetry Competition

Thirteenth poetry competition winners

The Thirteenth International Poetry Competition closed on November 1, 2014 (click here to enter the current competition). Deliberation over the final line-up of winners was long and hard, but by January 2015 the following successful entrants were announced:

Winner

Congratulations to Diane Simkin, from Cornwall, United Kingdom, who wins £200 for submitting the winning poem: "At the Land's End".

Diane writes mainly poetry with some articles and short stories. She has been widely published in magazines and anthologies and has won or been placed in many competitions, including twice winning the Morris Cup for poetry at the Cornish Gorseth. Her interests include walking, wildlife, reading, drawing and painting, photography and music. She lives in Cornwall, UK, with her husband, a professional musician.

At the Land's End

Here more than anywhere, I feel
the planet’s rhythmic dance through time and space,
along its ancient, predetermined path.
Pedn-an-Laaz the old ones called this place –

the End of the Earth. My eyes are drawn away
to where the Longship’s watchful, winking eye
welcomes the lonely sailor, and the grey
Atlantic stretches out to meet the sky.

Above the wild, white water and the hiss
of sucking surf, a ragged seagull cries.
Ancestral voices whisper in my ear,
old Neptune calls to Pan, and Pan replies

from untamed moor and rugged tor-crowned hill,
where long-horned cattle graze the rock-ribbed land,
unconquered by the predatory plough,
and ruined, blind-eyed engine houses stand

like sentinels, knee deep in memories;
where silent stones point proudly at the sky,
casting their shadows down three thousand years,
smug in their immortality. While I

scratch feebly at the world in my desire
to leave some trace behind; a child at play,
building a castle on the shifting sand,
racing the tide that washes all away.

Special commendations

Ten special commendations go out to the following entrants (in no particular order):

You can enter the current competition by clicking here

Share