Writing Magazine April 2020

poems depending on refrains, and

prose poems. In short, the Writing

Magazine poets followed the advice

offered to extend their imagination

and their skills in every dimension.

The use of language in a competition

poem is all-important. A few pieces

were eliminated for problems with

punctuation – an excess or a lack of

it – for wrenched syntax, where the

need to rhyme contorted the word

order into unnatural patterns, or for

predictable rhyming, with boys and

toys taking the honours for the most

frequently used rhyme.

When poets avoided these language

faux pas, their writing sang, and

quantities of the poems that weren’t

prizewinners were eminently deserving

of public reading or publication in

magazines or books. That is certainly

true of all the shortlisted poems, and

it was difficult to make a final choice.

The first prize goes to Gill Hawkins

of Wimborne, Dorset for The Magic

Of... a list poem written in the

persona of the magic of Christmas

Eve. The poem is written in quatrains,

using the first person and present

tense to bring immediacy into the

writing. Each stanza begins with I am

and goes on to describe itself in terms

of the crumple of paper, a warm spiced

aroma, encompassing silence and so on.

An impressive aspect of this poem

is its vocabulary. Words have not

only been chosen with precision, but

also where internal elements of slant

rhyme reinforce the poetic quality.

5656 APRIL 2020 http://www.writers-online.co.uk

Getting festive

P

art of the pleasure of

judging a competition is

the thrill of anticipation

when the parcel arrives.

How many entries will

there be? (Never possible to know.)

Will they all be clamouring to be the

winner, or will they be a lacklustre

set? The good news is that nothing

that arrived for the Christmas poetry

competition could be described as

lacklustre. Maybe that’s because

everyone has opinions and memories

regarding the festival, as well as

tales of the perfect and the worst

Christmas, parties and disasters, rows

and laughter, still-frozen turkeys and

overboiled sprouts.

Christmas is also a time when

emotions are highly charged. Every

joy is multiplied, but every pain is

more severe. It’s difficult to be jolly

when your heart is breaking, and

there were poems of sheer anguish

among the entries. It’s a special

accomplishment to write a poem

and enter it in a competition when

you are in a state of suffering. It’s

worth remembering that doing so

has a double benefit. It honours

the situation you are grieving, and

provides you with the healing effect of

creativity, a special therapy.

There were plenty of quirky entries,

such as the Christmas tree-shaped

calligramme, the excesses of the

French chef, the voice of the stable,

and the meeting and conversation

between Jesus Christ and Santa Claus.

There were poems about cards and

presents, food and drink, decorations

and entertainments, Advent and

aftermath, sparse times and plentiful,

past and present Christmases. There

were free verse poems, rhymed

couplets, sonnets, a rubai, a villanelle,

I am the shine on red berries,

the smart left by spiked holly leaves.

The stickiness clinging to fingers

from sap of a pine scented tree.

I am the crumple of paper,

the flourish when ribbons are tied;

the elegant touch a bow gives

and shape of a gift that’s disguised.

I am the sparkle on tinsel,

the two coloured candy cane tist.

The tremble inside when you steal

a long promised mistletoe kiss.

I am a shimmer on streamers,

the chasing pulsating of lights.

The aura surrounding a star

and wonder that fills up this night.

I am the wide-eyed excitement;

the heartbeat of anticipation,

the one final sleep until Santa,

space in a stocking that’s waiting.

I am a warm spiced aroma,

the flicker that’s firelight glow.

The quiver of eyelash that catches

a stellate shaped crystal of snow.

I am encompassing silence,

the breath that gives voice to a choir.

The second before midnight chimes

tumble through belfry and spire.

I am intangible feelings,

the intricate spell that is weaved;

the world’s best ever kept secret,

all the magic that is Christmas eve.

WINNER:

GILL HAWKINS

The Magic of...

The WM poets really captured a sense

of seasonal magic in their Christmas

Poetry competition entries, says judge

Alison Chisholm