National Poetry Day
The Scottish Arts Council is proud to present the winner of this years YoungScot National Poetry Day competition. We also feature the runners up to show the kind of fantastic talent out there! Well done!
The theme of National Poetry Day 2004 is 'food'.
The First Edition
I sit- the menu stands in front of me
The choice is overwhelming, condescending,
Dementing.
We sit in silence yet it speaks with a harsh voice-
What will you chose?
-obesity
-anorexia
-comfort
-deprivation
-To live
-Starvation Coz that’s what it does, doesn’t it? That’s what we let it do,
don’t we?
It’s it we spend the time on, not company;
Calories, portions, they have no emotion.
How does its magic potion render us oblivious, murderous to the lives we used to lead,
the people we were
And with hope still might want to be.
Coz when God made man he gave power to food and water, but up to his less than perfect
sons and daughter to share,
as all, evenly.
But now it seems, No, it is the conqueror of our weaker soul
for it damages those who lack it, yet seems to damage those who have too much
A baby salad shrivels beneath my glare as my tummy rumbles- but how dare it- I can not,
No, do not know hunger in all its glory-
when food is not 10 minutes away-
the click of a finger-
the soup of the day.
Some may have the belly potted but not with the pot bellied-
No control-
No ability to decide
-to strive-
for want to survive.
Yet STILL the magazines, the books, la mode,
STILL they rule the western life- play with
our minds
FOOD- the complication- destruction
FOOD- the simple appreciation of life.
Rosie Grant
Age 17
FOOD...
Well, it's something we're all familiar with.
Be it burgers and chips or the ultimate michelin dining.
But it's something I never used to think about;
Food was something people bought from my checkout-
something my Dad served onto my plate.
Not that I'd eat anything I was given-
I don't like peppers for a start!
But now I'm responsible for my food
And at times it's really scary.
"Vegetables don't buy themselves"
Now that was sound advice,
So carrots and cucumber line my fridge.
Spices are ready for my tasteless "home" cooking
I've escaped pot noodles and beans...so far
Though I am getting sick of spag bol!
But I'm sure I'll survive.
Just remember- you can't live on free lollipops from freshers week.
(I tried)
Aileen Harding
Age 18
|
SWEETS
Amazing are all sweets.
They're really scrummy treats!
You get sour and sweet and chewy and running,
But some of them can taste quite funny!
There's Astrobelts that are so sour-
The taste's still there after an hour!
And Dairy Milk, I have to say,
Is good enough to eat all day!
So all in all, I think no sweets
Should ever be limited like treats!
Rebecca Feeney
Age 12 |
FROM A BOWL OF SOUP COMES A FATTER WORLD
I gaze into,
the soup of hope,
I try to see
how I will cope.
The red steamy liquid,
floats in the bowl
an endless space of time
not moving, not accusing, just sitting there waiting.
It tempts with it's smell,
more acute
than any other and it draws you in like
one draws in a breath.
It sits there still and begins to smile,
with it's heinous croutons
laughing at me,
and the rest of Britain
as we put on the pounds.
And still with this soup,
from bloodied can,
comes guilt, knowing
that there are others in the world
that are starving,
while I sit
with Gods head on a silver platter.
Many just think that it is just a bowl of soup
but I know better than them,
I know it's plan -
high in salt, high in guilt, poisoning from one taste.
I know it isn't any kind of soup,
I know that it is the eden apple's cousin,
I know that it is evil itself,
I know that it is tomato.
Mhairi Threlfall
Age 15 |
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER
The aroma of the chicken sizzled in the air,
The bubbling pasta was brought to a boil,
The carrots were served on a silver plate,
Nobody touched it before it was eight.
The waiters swiftly walked from table to table,
Always on time and never failing,
Hope you had a tasteful evening,
I certainly did and I'm not complaining.
Rachel Brand
Age unspecified | |