Poetry and Creative Writing for All

The Top 5 Poems of the Month

September 2003

Our winning poet for September is Jacqui Thorne.
Read Jacqui Thorne's biography and more of her poems

Ice Age Aurora

In time you are silent,
frozen in radiance.
An enigma of white
crystallised, you guard with
hostility secrets.
Beautiful and unspoilt,
a volatile rarity,
many men will not brave.
Your violet blue energy,
in darkness a wonder.
Aurora australis,
fossillising an aura
of strange peaceful light.
In green metamorphis,
millions of ages
will pass, as the heavens
do each night above you.
Your mystery will unfold,
Antartica.

Jacqui Thorne

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Here are the other four poems chosen by our imprint editors as winning poems for September. All other poems submitted for the Top 5 Poems of the Month for September are being considered for various anthologies.

'The Wish'

If I could have just a single wish granted
Then the mind of every living being would be planted
With seeds of LOVE consuming all thought and deed
So there's no space at all for evil to feed
No room for terror, cruelty or greed
Instead there'd be caring to fill every need
No more the hate and horror of war
And we'd never ever need to lock any door
Children will no longer have reason to fear
Their joy and laughter replacing the tear
A world full of LOVE overflowing and pure
Embracing a future, optimistic, secure
There'd be nothing to spoil the beauty around
A glorious sunset, scent of flowers abound
Waterfalls, mountains, lakes and trees
Moonlight shining over shimmering seas
A tranquil sky and all things natural
This will be the heritage for one and all
LOVE is the answer to heal all the pain
Of a world in turmoil, so long may it reign

R. M. Green

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Icy Summer

The Sun beat down upon a far away land
The moon rose higher not making a sound
The night was young, as day grew old
The weather warm but somewhat cold
The land was scorched, the river dry
How could anything live, when left to die
The stars gave light but the amount was small
Darkness set in, the night was cruel.

Stephanie Pereira

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Close-Cropped Lawns

My close-cropped lawns
and neatly trimmed hedges
are meant to impress
and suggest that my life
is orderly and organised,
calm and controlled;
my hallway and living room
echo the lie,
they are what you would see
if I let you in,
so the floors will be clean,
the surfaces polished
and most of the clutter
cleared;
but the real me resides
in all that lies hidden:
the chaos behind
closed doors,
the mountains
of unsorted debris,
the tangled muddle
held down and held back
in dark drawers and cupboards
that even I
dare not open;
best you imagine
me as the person
whose hedges are trimmed
and whose life is as smooth
as his close-cropped lawns.

Alan Millard

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later, the table

at first
it was the little things
that went unnoticed

a week ago last Tuesday
the saltcellar and the garlic press
snuck off together
keenly followed
by the bread knife and the cutlery

emboldened
by this mini Great Escape,
yet with furtive glances,
larger items
took their chances

the bedside lamp
(under cover of darkness)
came out of the shade
and,
unhappy with the way things are,
departed with the VCR

later, the table,
furnished with lame excuses
and with the chairs acting as decoy,
turned, and slipped away

this isn't how
it's meant to be
my home is slowly
leaving me

Andrew Proudfoot

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To submit a poem to the online competition email
inbox@forwardpress.co.uk
Please include Top 5 Poems in the subject line of your email.