Churchill House Poetry Competition Winners
This year, the Churchill House Poetry Competition themes were solitude and growth. Students showcased an impressive level of creative writing skills and we’re pleased to announce the winners!
Mr Grimmet, Director of English, judged the competition and he commented:
"It has been a delight to judge the Churchill House Poetry Competition entries this year and I have been moved by the heartfelt explorations of both the haunting nature and wonder of 'solitude', and been suitably inspired by the innovative perspectives on 'growth'. The originality and beauty of the language so many used was a joy to see.”
Huge congratulations to our overall 2024 winners:
Elise Gott (Hanover) (1st)
George Brown (Stuart) (2nd)
Ava Nourouz-Smith (Lancaster) (3rd)
Wendy Granger (Tudor) (4th)
Amallia Guthrie-Knight (Windsor) (5th)
Solitude by Wendy Granger (4th Place)
Concrete, bleak as day
People walking,
Happy, the say.
A phone in one hand,
The other empty, pale and bland.
Stood in a faceless crowd,
Everyone hunched still and sound.
I wonder how they live on,
Souls outlived now that they’ve shone.
Happy, they say.
Someone falls, a gash on one knee.
No-one sees except for me.
Day and night, night and day,
Happy, they say.
A rainbow glows in the sky,
No-one notices as it shoots far and high.
8 billion people, so many faces,
All shapes and sizes and races.
Happy, they say.
Society’s mould,
Only broken by the bold.
We say we have all we need,
But then why is our world so full of greed?
Centimetres between us,
Or are they miles?
I couldn’t tell though I’ve tried.
Happy, they say.
A lie,
Bigger than the universe,
Wider than the skies.
Happiness is meaningless when you are on your own,
For we are surrounded,
But still alone.
Solitude by Amalia Guthrie-Knight (5th Place)
The icy winded grasped my neck,
Thinking to myself what i was to do next,
My words shifted from whispers to screams,
Yet no one was around to be seen,
My hopes and desires shriveled to the size of a prune,
And then took me back to the 3rd of june,
Where mistakes have been made,
Trust had been played,
And kindness had been stabbed by a sharp blade,
Left alone in a dark woodland forest,
My thoughts had pondered till the end of august,
What was I to do next as I was all alone,
And contacts had been ripped and drained from my phone,
How I loved to play in the park with my friends,
Yet now I know it was all pretend,
Roots strangled my ankles pulling me under,
Booms from the sky shouting with thunder,
I was hopeless,
Invisible,
And most of all dead to the bone of regret,
And then what was left of me was a dark silhouette.