Every term, our English Department with the School Magazine run a poetry competition for students across Oxford High School to participate in. There were many interesting and enjoyable contributions in the Spring Poetry Competition, congratulations to the following students whose poems were judged best in their section:
Years 1 & 2 – Riya C Y1 for ‘Loosey Magoosey’
Years 3 & 4 – Savanna Y Y3 for ‘Maths maths everywhere (true)’
Years 5 & 6 – Juwayriyya A Y6 for ‘My wings’
Years 7, 8 & 9 – Diya S Y7 for ‘Lightning strikes’
Years 10 & 11 – Hera C Y11 for ‘Shoes’
Years 12 & 13 – Esther K Y12 for ‘Meltdown’
I wanted my poem to feel very dramatic and imply the harshness of lightning striking down. The mood is dark, malicious and ominous, whilst the narrator is portrayed as vulnerable and scared. One thing I learnt is that poems can give life to anything. My poem personifies lightning to be the person I created in my mind, a mysterious, unpredictable and formidable character. Within the poem I have showcased the actions lightning and my response to it, using an analogy of a hide and seek game. Use of metaphors such as comparing lighting to a beast further emphasises the raw power and intimidating presence of lighting.
While the poem does not contain a rhyming pattern, I have used repetition to achieve rhythm and constant seeking effect within the structure of the poem to keep the reader emotionally engaged throughout. With a shift of mood in the last line where the reader reverses their role, from a seeker to a hider. Diya, Year 7