"The judging panel were overwhelmed by the quality of the entries: the poems were passionate, emotional and demonstrated impressive engagement with the theme. It was incredibly difficult to pick a winner, so we chose a shortlist and then asked published poet Debra Bertulis (who ran our online poetry session this year) to choose a winner and a runner-up.

A huge well done to everyone who entered!"

Lizzie, Church, Royal Borough of Greenwich Schools Improvement Advisor

Season Blues by Suweyda, Year 12

I am not summer,

I am fall.

I am the crisp air staining cheeks red,

Not the melody of rays beaming on your bed

As the leaves turn green to brown

And the trees drop their leaves,

Do you wonder how the world accepts us whether or not we grieve what was to be?

There is a sense of petrichor in the air -

The ground stained with our scarred imperfections,

Summer days still blessing us with its affection

Can I be bright and jovial – rather than air tight and colloquial?

I don’t know what it means to have the gods praise me,

Helios’s haven of light not Boreas’s hyperborean sights.

As the seasons go by,

And the fruits of the mothers die

I sit here and ponder,

For the last time, whether or not to say goodbye.

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