In November last year the shortlist and winners of the Woorilla Poetry Prize were announced. I’m always conscious of how difficult is it to judge poetry competitions – both for single poems and collections. There are always poems or collections that are close, it’s always possible to imagine a second shortlist, an alternate winner. There’s always a little luck with the right poem reaching the right judge. So I’m to happy to share that my poem A Saturday in Nundle was awarded second place.
Big thanks to the judges Gayelene Carbis and Emilie Collyer! Congratulations to the winner Stephanie Powell and the winners of the youth categories. The competition has been running for thirty years, it’s great to be part of something has such a long and interesting history.
Here’s the first couple of stanzas, enjoy!
A Saturday in Nundle
It’s spring, our dead children are lacing their shoes;
we walk, fleeting, through bush. A shadow
on the memory-shaped hill; the same birds singing,
broken hearts in chorus. Tangle of bushland,
a bridge, the weathered frame. Past an old house
near the mouth of a mine, wood and weatherboard,
dirt roads. The aura of dust. We picked wild berries
in the ravine. Bleached chassis breaking back to nothing.
Rico Craig 