Pine
Richard Hughes, Llanmaes, South Glamorgan
A collection tin, thin
as a beggar’s bowl
hammered in below
the stripped bark.
Vaginal contours
and folds; a wound,
a whiteness raw
as exposed bone.
Acid encourages
a resin trickle,
slow as the low
of hardening honey.
Do trees feel pain?
Bear it silently like cats?
Mawkish – how might you
term it – to botanomorphise?
Think of medicines,
disinfectants, the ine inish
of antique tables. Listen.
The violin’s diminuendo.
The reader is not told how old the tree is but the poem does raise
a number of questions in stanza four. Notice also the way the title
of this poem works on a number of levels. Let it inspire you to get
creative, innovative, playful... with the titles of your own poems.
Hidden wounds
Caroline Newbury, Ditton, Kent
Buried inside, the truth is waiting
Discard the sadness
Establish the mask
Execute your act
Greasepaint applied
You are not broken anymore
Caroline says: ‘I was inspired by the idea of masking, particularly
hiding the negative within the positive.’
Whatever subject you address, never be afraid to be playful with
language; enough to enhance the poem without overshadowing it.
#220 Wound
Writers
’
FORUMPOETRY COMP
Enter our themed poetry contest
with a irst prize of £100 and a
Chambers Thesaurus worth £40
O
ur monthly themed poetry competition has a
irst prize of £100 and a Chambers Thesaurus
for one winner. A number of runners-up may
also be published, depending upon the nature of the
contest and available space. The entry fee is £7, including
a brief, helpful critique from poetry editor Sue Butler.
You can purchase an entry by following the link on the
Writers’ Forum website – http://www.writers-forum.com
■ Entry is strictly by email only, one poem per email.
■ The fee is £7 per poem, which includes a short critique from
poetry editor and judge Sue Butler.
■ Note! This month, poems should be exactly 12 lines long and
consist of three stanzas. See Sue’s instructions on p50.
■ We want to encourage new writing. Poems must be
your original work and previously unpublished, including
newspapers, magazines, books, pamphlets, websites etc.
The judge’s decision is inal and no correspondence over results
will be entered into. By entering, entrants agree to these rules
and for their entries to be published in Writers’ Forum.POETRY COMP 222: I AM...
Deadline: 12 noon GMT on Wed 8 AprilAssignment: Read Sue’s detailed instructions on p50
and the rules above to write this month’s poem.How to enter
1 Pay online by following the link on our website
at http://www.writers-forum.com/poetrycomp.html
2 Send your entry either in the body of your email or attached
in a Word-compatible document (.doc/.docx/.rtf). PDFs are
also allowed if the format of your poem has to be precise.
3 Give your name, address and phone number at the end. Add
your web order conirmation number (from the email sent to
you after you pay online), plus a brief biography about yourself:
age, occupation, what inspired you, etc. And be ready to email
a nice author photo if you win!
4 In the subject line write Poetry Comp #222: followed by your
poem’s interesting and relevant title.
5 Send your email to [email protected] by the
deadline above.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 for any additional poems you wish to
enter, one poem at a time.
Good luck! The results will be published the issue after next.HOW TO ENTER