International Poetry Competition
Fifteenth poetry competition winners
The Fifteenth International Poetry Competition closed on November 1, 2016. Deliberation over the final line-up of winners was long and hard, but by January 2017 the following successful entrants were announced:
Winner
Congratulations to Annest Gwilym, from Gwynedd, United Kingdom, who wins £200 for submitting the winning poem: "Last night I became an Emperor Moth".
Annest Gwilym lives in North Wales, near the Snowdonia National Park in the UK. She is a native Welsh speaker. Her writing is often neurotic, obsessive, disturbing and uncanny. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. She has been placed, highly commended and shortlisted in several writing competitions in recent years. Her interests include beachcombing for that elusive chunk of ambergris, and making her own jewellery, which she sells.
Last night I became an Emperor Moth
I rode through the liquid night,
as a melon-slice moon crested a bank of
cloud.
Part of the hush and curve of the universe;
Pleiades above me a
diamond cluster ring.
Clothed in starlight, wings powdered,
furry belly
glossy and plump.
Left the moor for a jaunt to the seaside,
over towns with flickering
lights and strange smells.
Saw the sea corrugated by waves,
tang of salt
quickening my senses.
Shimmied and played chase with the ladies,
rested
with them on Marram Grass.
Birdsong ushered in the return of the sun;
drowsy, went home to sleep in
the heather.
There to wait for my lover; my musk strong,
it will draw him
from miles. He will come,
wings taut with blood. Antennae fresh as ferns.
Owl eyes pulsing with life like coals.
Special commendations
Seven special commendations go out to the following entrants (in no particular order):
- Ute Carson, United States, "When Did I Get Old?";
- Jeremy Gardner, Jamaica, "Honey and Clover";
- Ginna Wilkerson, United States, "A Dip in the Pool";
- Mary V. Williams, United Kingdom, "Funeral Parlour";
- Philip O'Neil, Czech Republic, "Bug Life";
- Adam Khan, United Kingdom, "To Robinson Jeffers";
- Bruce Harris, United Kingdom, "Partying".
