Poetry
The Wyre Primary schools poetry competition is now in its 5th year. It is open to all primary schools in Wyre for key stage 2. Each year on National Poetry Day we celebrate the winning schools and their poets with a presentation evening at Marsh Mill. This landmark mill, in the heart of Thornton, is perfect for the children, bringing as it does a sense of history and education to the proceedings. Usually the Mayor and Mayoress present the prizes. We also have a poetry reading and the winners read their own work.
Entry forms for the 2010 competition are available here.
In 2009 the main theme was “Windmills” and we are proud to announce that Scorton School, Over Wyre, were the overall winners. The trophy was presented at the evening ceremony on 8th October 2009. Some of the poems entered in the competition are available here
The winner, along with the other poets from Forton, St John Cross, St Mary’s and St Michael’s, saw their work presented in the Mill and around some shops at Marsh Mill, to herald the site as a part of windmill land.
Marsh Mill, by Graham James
The cover picture for the new issue of
“Chasing the Tide”
Winning Poem: The Wind’s Wrath
Wind wailing and waiting,
For its time to blow,
Its wrath upon each wind-mill,
Who dares to block his path.
Then “WHOOSH!”
As quick as lightning,
And as keen as mustard,
And as swift as a hare,
It drifted to the white weary windmill,
And at supersonic speed,
It let its mighty breath rip like mad,
It made the sails go faster than
An atomic bomb blowing up.
But although its breath was a tower of strength
It doesn't know what’s going on down below.
Down below going so slow,
The millstones grind the corn,
So slow.
By a pupil of St Michael’s
Last Year’s Winners
Last year in support of Cleveleys’ new promenade the theme was “The Sea”. St Mary’s won outright with the winning poem and the overall number of commended poems.
Cover of the 2008 issue
of “Chasing the Tide”
Winning Poem: The Sea-Side
The Sea is filled with fishy smells —
Aeroplanes zoom past!
Sand Dunes, massive and different shapes,
Rippled textures like creases in the laundry pile.
The sea glimmers like diamonds and crystals
In a jewellers shop.
Waves tumble and tangle like paint being mixed in a tin.
Seagulls crying like babies
Fishing boats drift slowly by
Their shadows drift past the pier.
Sand glistens and whispers to me.
I feel frightened when I see big cliffs loom over me
I dread their cold clammy feel!
By a pupil of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Great Eccleston
Runner-up: The Sea
I laugh and play with pebbles,
Calm and cool, I lap the shore like a cat with a bowl of milk.
Gently I sway between the children’s legs
Like a puppy with a new owner.
Violent and dangerous I haul the ships onto the shore,
Like a lion with a gazelle
I roar as I rip chunks from the cliff itself.
Grasping the ships, grabbing them down
To the abyss below.
Like a snake I weave through the caverns,
Searching for my next victim.
Again I gently lap against what is left of my rage,
No one would know of my anger.
Like a seal I weave through the rocks and at ease,
I laugh at the pebbles as they tumble at my feet.
I slowly roll up and down the coast,
Like a lost dog, searching.
By pupils of Shakespeare Primary School, Fleetwood
Previous Years
The winning schools previously have been Winmarleigh primary school (2006) and Forton Primary jointly in 2007 with St Mary’s Primary, Great Eccleston.
