Good to receive word my poem ‘a beautiful world’ received second place in the Annual Poetry Competition for Poetry Matters. Always affirming to have your work accepted and a cheque award is an extra bonus. My award winning poem began with my Granddaughter little Miss J putting my big shell to her ear and my saying ‘can you hear the sea?’ She listened seriously and said in her sweet three-year-old voice ‘I can hear the dolphins.’ That line stayed with me for the past three years. And then Thomas face-timed me from England with his school project about the problem of plastic on the sea and the poem had its seed.
AWARD WINNING POEM
a beautiful world
at the party I sit back
watch the action from the side
frivolity centres the room
spills out onto the deck
my daughters laugh
in the kitchen
sampling each others specialities
the men outside
beer in hand
enjoy the sizzle of the barbecue
I watch their little ones
busy at make-believe
they are growing fast
each in their own way
the eldest now eight years old
is worried about the dolphins
what if they choke on the plastic and all die
the four year old responds
i can hear the dolphins in grandma’s big shell
I remember my whispered words
as I held each for the first time
welcome little one
it is a beautiful world
now the world waits for them
silent boisterous open
their shining eyes also wait
and nested in hope
my heart aches
Thomas Keating-Jones and Plastic Project
with his helper and little sister Miss E and his school project about Plastic and its impact on our ocean.
Thanks to The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Hokusai for the back ground.
Thanks to Ginninderra Press for their publishing my poetry and to Cheryl Howard who supports poets and poetry writing with her journal Poetry Matters