Armistice 100 Poetry Competition 2018

The Armistice 100 poetry competition was set up by the University of Lincoln to commemorate the day the First World War officially ended. The competition submission was open for much of 2018, and it was judged by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy as well as acclaimed poet Imtiaz Dharker among others, and accepted applications from writers between 12 and 18. The competition received 544 poems, with just over 100 of them being shortlisted for publication in this anthology. These 100 poems were split evenly between three age groups (12-13, 14-16, 17-18), and among my age group of 17-18, my poem The Death Of The Moon was considered to be highly commended alongside 9 others. 

A short article about my (as well as another students) shortlisting published by Long Road Sixth Form College, where I was studying Level 3 Creative Writing at the time, can be found here. 

The prompt for the poem itself was that it needed to follow the theme of armistice, and not exceed 500 words.

Here is the final submitted poem:

The Death of the Moon

I – Hymne für Ferdinand – Hymn for Ferdinand

 

The clouds crumpled with a villainous spark.

Rain scratched, streamed up the fickle, mud-wood walls

In painful bleeding streaks, and struck

                Bang, Bang,

On helmet’s cold metal, dented metal.

And the chilled barrens cried, in pooling slogs:

The flooded graves (some graves, some not,)

                Drip, Drip,

Slowly crawled back home, back here to greet us.

But if, by chance, you look (please, please don’t look),

The distance kindled, bitten and spat

                Crack, Crack,

And whistled death at you.

 

II – Wie Die Lichter Ausgehen – As the Lights Go Out

 

            Ten million names burning on ten million candles

Lost on a boundless lake of ten million sparks.

And amber flame on the low hanging clouds,

Weighed down by ten million marks.

 

Then the faint ripples curl through a cradling breeze,

And fire sinks, sent a droplet from the sky.

Clouds shatter in terrible pain

And fall, when flickers die.

 

III – Das Ende der Nacht – The End of the Night

 

Winter swallowed the treacherous war machine.

Scoured was the hollow; men traded coffee beans

And cigarettes, wandered about, filled the graves,

Stood side by side, hats off to mourn those not saved.

 

The air sung Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht.

As the night waned, home-bound survivors packed.

The child-sun greeted convoy taillights

And windscreens: a sky filled with whites.

Here are my recorded drafts and notes:

http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/armistice100/

Possible themes –

The poem is there to commemorate the ending of the 1^st world war, Christmas is just around the corner and the snow was about to descend on the trenches. The tank had just been invented, causing the armistice.  

Seeing the enemy as more than just the enemy, but as fellow human beings?

a poem on the theme of Armistice, with a title and no longer than 500 words.

Note – Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht is the German version of silent night, and Beklemmend Nacht means oppressive night

The night of 10^th November, 1918

I – Beklemmend Nackt

The clouds crumpled with a villainous spark.

Rain dripped, scratched up the fickle, mud-wood walls

In painful bleeding streaks, and struck

                Bang, Bang,

On helmet’s hewn metal, dented metal.

And the chilled barrens cried, in pooling slogs:

The flooded graves (some graves, some not,)

                Drip, Drip,

Slowly crawled back home, back here to greet us.

And if you got a look (please, please don’t look),

The distance kindled, bitten and spat

                Crack, Crack,

And whistled death at you.

II – Sunrise

Winter swallowed the treacherous war machine.

Scoured was the hollow; men traded coffee beans

And cigarettes, wandered about, filled the graves,

Stood side by side, hats off to mourn those not saved.

 

The air sung Stille Nackt, Heilige Nackt.

As the night waned, home-bound survivors packed.

The child-sun greeted convoy taillights

And windscreens: a sky filled with whites.