Competition

First Prize

Write Forever
by Molly Jackson
Chapel Hill State School, Chapel Hill, Qld

Write forever
All day long
Go to a world where you belong

Write forever
Learn, create
Make a character, choose their fate

Write forever
Laugh and smile
Whatever genre is your style

Write forever
Fantasy
Science fiction, mystery

Write forever
Spooky crimes
Poems, lists, and funny rhymes

Write forever
Enjoy, have fun
Write anywhere, in rain or sun

Second Prize

Inside the Fridge
by Molly Jackson
Chapel Hill State School, Chapel Hill, Qld

A gooey, red mango and pineapple punch
A plate of blue jelly,  a salad from lunch.
A tangy gold lemon, a piece of fruit cake
And last night’s leftovers of sausage and steak.
Celery, broccoli, ancient black plums
Inside the fridge isn’t just food but stale crumbs.
The melon is rotten with maggots and worms
The fridge is infested with baddies and germs.
There is 6 month old cheese with a lovely green mould
To clean out this monster you have to be bold.
The stench it is foul and the contents are grim

But this fridge won’t be happy when I’m done with him.

Third Place

Moments in Time
by Boyd Tarlinton
Upper Caboolture, Qld

Dawn
The sun awakens
Unstoppable and ageless
Grappling to get a foothold on the day
Spreading its scarlet light
Across the dense, overgrown landscape
Shining, breathtaking
Breathing life into the world

A lizard scampers from under a broad fern
Its tongue darts out tasting the air
And returns to the protection
Of its living canopy

Startled by onlookers
A tiny rodent
Dashes deeper into the bushes
Scurrying away from danger

Noon
The sun soars
More powerful than ever
As it expands its reaches
Across the damp, unkempt land
Seeking to infiltrate the canopy
Glistening off water droplets
Powerful and brilliant

Fish splash and spray
Sending silvery water
Onto the shaded banks
As light dances on opaque leaves

Overgrown bushes, creeping vines
A dense, impenetrable fortress
Housing the tiniest secrets
Behind a wall of gnarled undergrowth

Evening
Descending, the sun loses its powerful grip
As it slowly retracts its warm hands
From the lush, green landscape
Momentarily radiating off flaming clouds
Then forfeiting its power to the darkness
Its last golden rays evaporate
Fading to black

In the forest
Darkness brings no peace
Shadows scurry and scamper
Seeking a safe refuge

Fleeting images and sounds reverberate
As the forest awakens for a second time
Bustling with unseen life
Awaiting the dawn