Winning poems
Category A: Middle Primary (Years 3, 4 and 5)
1st Prize
The Magic Box by Priya Aravinth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2nd Prize
My Little Pouch of Greece by Raquel van Merwyk. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3rd Prize
The Magic box by Niamh Fraser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Highly Commended
Prayer to Poseidon before the Ancient Greek Olympic games by Margot Reid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Category B: Upper Primary (Years 6 and 7)
1st Prize
mirrors by Hannah Tsang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2nd Prize
Me and the keys by Nitya Tewari . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3rd Prize
Venetian Red by Sharna Lyell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Highly Commended
Again & Again by Anna Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Category C: Middle School (Years 8, 9 and 10)
1st Prize and Overall Winner
The Woodsman’s Son by Lewis Orr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Contents
2nd Prize
Blackdog Billionaire by Mellissa Barber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3rd Prize
Lambent by Mina Wallis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Highly Commended
Paris’ Lament (from Romeo and Juliet) by Philippa Newman. . 16
Category D: Senior School (Years 11 and 12)
1st Prize
1961 by Celeste Kalnenas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2nd Prize
Ennui-ophobia by Christy Tan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3rd Prize
in defence of the tenth commandment by Ella Fox-Martens. . . 21
Highly Commended
Mickie’s fi rst day by Emily Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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Me and the keys I like to dance my fingers, Over the black bumps, And white waters, Over the piano pool of notes, A dragonfly at play! In playful peace, my piano playing places me! The notes take me places; Press left, And I'm in the crevasses and chasms of trolls and goblins; Press right, And I'm in the lofty glades of fairy folk: 'Tis a delight to tinkle and travel! In playful peace, my piano playing places me! To play alone at home, Is to court contentment; To play in concert, Is to agony for excellence: I shuttle between salon and stage, Between private tranquility and public fury! In playful peace, my piano playing places me! There is my most moving melody, A terrific tune of which I never tire; In my homely Hindi it's known as 'Gerua' Meaning the sight of saffron; A lingering love lyric, That enchants and engulfs me, Loses me in moments of magic! In playful peace, my piano playing places me!
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in defence of the tenth commandment
june- st martin’s canal caught in the soft milk of new twilight
summer picked out of teeth, flicked around tongues and dissipated sweetly, thickly into salt heat and wanting
buildings sweat methane and leer in cigarette smoke at the flipped page of a woman’s thigh, young mouth shaped like ignition
I hear your voice as the streets hum in waltz time and every step returns me to where I stood before;
I see your face as the sun wages war with dusk and the sky pierces itself gladly on church spires
monet’s oiled lilies are still drying as he sits lonely in the tuileries- like me, he is weary of being looked at when he can’t look back
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71 Stirling Highway Nedlands WA 6009
PO Box 9 Nedlands WA 6909
T 9273 3500 | TTY 9273 3646
nedlands.wa.gov.au
The Roland Leach Poetry Prize is a biennial competition run by the
City of Nedlands Library Service since 2005. It aims to promote poetry in
the community and to recognise and reward outstanding, original works
written by young people in Western Australia.
This is the sixth year of the competition and there were 1116 entries
from 95 schools across the state.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Roland Leach Poetry
Prize 2016. This competition would not be possible without the
enthusiasm and dedication of all the participants.
Nedlands Library Service, October 2016