Runners Up 2007
On this page:
- 'Scarlet Lips' by Michaela Ball
- 'Father, Ph.D' by Sue Mun Huang
- 'So here we are' by Laura Lincoln
- 'Something less than nothing (but still I kiss you silver) by Zoe Newman
- 'Act One' by Michael Trigg
- 'lifetime(s)' by Alisha Vara
- 'Lazy Boy' by Sam Wells
- 'A Leaving Message (For Eriko)' by Sarah Zydervelt
Michaela Ball - (Year 13, Cashmere High School, Christchurch)
Scarlet Lips
Lips tainted scarlet grate against my own
like bruises and grapes and
like the colour you think a laugh might be.
The words I’ll bow my head in silence
resonate in my ears, but now they’re red,
and I don’t think I can listen anymore.
Sharp, rugged rocks were splayed across
the beach,
night-time,
summertime,
we had a blanket because it was cold,
fingers, hands.
And now, the smooth, hard surface is scratched.
The moon stole my vocabulary,
and left me with a pair of red gumboots
I’ll dirty the ochre-jelly soles,
and pretend I’m someone
else.
Sue Mun Huang - (Year 12, Karamu High School, Hastings)
Father, PhD
I can navigate Taipei
and talk to strangers
because you won’t.
I can distinguish 14 apple species
and recite the 50 states by location
of the country you despise
almost as much as China.
No
is your answer.
I can replace the mail exactly
as you left it,
Dad.
Laura Lincoln - (Yr 12, Karamu High School, Hastings)
So here we are
What’s a few men
who throw their arms around me
when you are not here
to connect my dots
Tell me you need me
I’m losing my touch
playing snakes and ladders
on the back of my hand
Give me a reason
to change it
to fall at your feet
knee deep in solution
Make me want to
remove your coat
and let you
warm your hands
on my stove
Zoe Newman - (Year 13, Dargaville High School)
Due to formating restrictions, several lines in this poem have been laid out slightly differently from the original.
Something less than nothing (but still I kiss you silver)
Nothing special, nothing grand, I’m just the needle in your shadow,
Less than a speck of silver, nothing more than a speck of bronze,
Hiding in a speck of dirt, but still I kiss you silver.
You see me, something less than nothing, just another target on the road,
The fire that grew so low, because I felt your winter.
Transparent and you can’t tell, crying you have nothing,
Right here hiding in your shadow, is something less than nothing.
Meaningless talk, the feel of apathy, like a raging river with no flow,
But still I kiss you silver.
As water crystals fall, feeling the crescent moon surge, endless luminous skies,
Everything I am to you is dirt, to you that’s where I lie.
But I’m, something more than nothing, something more than a kiss of silver, something more than
kiss of gold,
Something, I am the needle in your soul.
Going nowhere, staying somewhere, awaiting the day you’re no longer incensed,
You are something less than nothing.
‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,’ I shouldn’t have to prove this to you,
You’re the final crystal that falls, and I’m not falling with you.
Because I’m, something more than nothing, something more than a kiss of silver, something more
than a kiss of gold,
Something, I am the needle in your soul.
I was, nothing special, nothing grand, just the needle in your shadow,
Less than a speck of silver, nothing more than a speck of bronze, hiding in a speck of dirt.
But no longer shall I
Kiss you silver
Michael Trigg - (Year 13, Wellington College)
Act One
Zips up, buttons buttoned,
Put on someone else’s face.
Do re me
Stretch the mind, the body and the voice.
Silent, one sided conversation in a corner.
Fa so la
Breathe in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Each breath in filling you with someone else.
Each breath out, emptying you of yourself.
Ti do do
Look around, recognise faces
And acknowledge their presence.
Ti la so
Briefcase.
Umbrella.
Hat.
Fa me re
Anticipation.
Blaring silence.
Do
Curtain up.
Alisha Vara - (Year 13, Rangi Ruru Girls' School, Christchurch)
lifetime(s)
the man who knew my
parents but didn’t know we
were vegetarian caught us a fish.
we laid it down in the garage,
glistening, lucid, a sea animal
dressed up as land. it was wrapped
in newspaper, one eye gazing
vacantly, the other, bloodied,
lost and not knowing.
the people at the wedding
knew, though. they knew how
to tell stories with their hands
and paint henna onto bored
children, flower webs twisting
around finger and palm.
they transformed hands into
seas of red where the fish
would have swum, seamlessly,
through ranks of dreams. instead
it lay solemn, and still. felt like
piranhas gnawing at my heart.
Sam Wells - (Year 12, Wellington College)
Lazy Boy
Warmth and softness,
the cat purring,
the fire crackling.
It’s funny what you see
when your eyes aren’t open.
Because he can still see
the business suit at the end
of the tunnel.
The constant colour of green.
The gold man on the water.
The ease with which the knife cuts through the butter.
But the butter is cold.
His favourite feeling is flying.
Being a hot knife
floating, weightless,
with everything and nothing beneath.
Chaos under him continues,
but not near him.
He is flying.
And all this about a boy
in the cold,
on the couch,
inside me.
Sarah Zydervelt - (Year 12, Nayland College, Nelson)
A Leaving Message (For Eriko)
It is easier for the particles to move under.
The wind carries you off.
Gliding, the air hostess remembers her tray.
Music takes you back.
Summer watched the playful, her salty eyes form memories.
The sea looks wispy from your perch.
Change.
I miss you.
Music takes me back.
Kayaking trips make me smile and how we sung like idiots.
It’s easier for me to feel sad.
Isolated in a little town filled with empty space.
I could be swept away in a dream.
Carried off by pretty phrases and fitted with silver wings,
But you will always be my heart and on the phone.
I guess I’ll see you soon enough.
I don’t get to watch history as a brick carries you away.
I’ll say goodbye and pretend to smile.
My saline eyes reveal all.
Change stains the leaves of my memories as they swoop to a resting point.
We are good at hugs and cheating.
This box cheats gravity.
I love our sneaking and missioning.
I'll heart you soon.