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I push the telephone button and – BEEP – I call my friend
I push the cat off the bed and – MEOW – it runs away
I push the car button and – ZOOM – it’s round the bend
I push the dog and – WOOF – it’s off the end
I push the TV button and – BUZZ – it’s on, hurray
I push my older brother and – OI – he pushes me back
By Douglas Smith
P5, Dunino Primary
FIRST PRIZE – JUNIOR CATEGORY
Pulled off a wall
Roots and all
Put in a pot
It hurt a lot.
Sit on the sill
And wait until
I am set free
And can find my family.
A flower is my friend
On the other end
Of the window sill
Where I’m imprisoned until
Someone takes pity
And decides to free me
And I can sprawl
On my beloved wall.
When my roots are in the ground
I can travel around
But in a pot
I can’t travel a lot.
Someone take pity
Please PLEASE free me
I don’t deserve this life
I’m only Ivy.
By Emma Ruskuc
P5 Lawhead Primary
SECOND PRIZE (EQUAL) – JUNIOR CATEGORY
White like vanilla ice cream soft in its cone
Hovering like a glider
In the dark blue sky
Landing on a tomb stone
Warm in its fur
Huge wings with bright white feathers
Hooting around the graveyard
Graveyard Owl
By Blaine Rutherford
Y4 St Leonards – New Park
SECOND PRIZE (EQUAL) – JUNIOR CATEGORY
I don’t have a certain shape
I like the heat but not the cold
I thicken the air but then disappear
I am as dark as the dirt
I’m made in a factory
I warn people of heat
What am I?
By: Tamara Levy
Primary 7, Strathkinness Primary School
FIRST PRIZE – Intermediate Category
The grey lake is an empty place
With wisps of smoke that circle round
Not a fish or a plant
Not a tree or a flower to lighten the picture
Through the mist a lonely old man in an old boat
Glides through the water
The wind rippling his long white beard
A dark shaggy coat to fight the cold
Blank grey eyes staring into nothing
At fall of night with shaking hands he strokes the surface
Fish start to dance
A fountain spurts
Flowers bloom and tree branches stretch
And his old grey eyes glow with happiness
As his world approaches
The colours fade
Leaving an old grey lake, an old grey boat, and an old grey man
Smiling at the secret of the lake that only he knows.
By Viveka Kymal
Y6 St Leonards-New Park School
Second Prize – Intermediate Category
Pucks slide
Players glide
Players sprint
Commentators print
Sweat drips
Clothes rip
Blood runs
Starting guns
Equipment smells
Crazy spells
Bottles leak
Managers speak
Speakers shout
Orders out
People cheer
Players fear
Goalies call
Nets fall
I can see the lights of the stadium flash
As the players slip and dash
By Lauren McDermott
P7 Canongate Primary School
Third Prize – Intermediate Category
The day of the show dawned bright and clear
The climax of the animals’ haute-couture year.
A chance for all to pose and preen,
The must-do event at which to be seen.
First came the pugs in Uggs, then wombats in combats,
slugs in shrugs, crocs in frocks, skunks in trunks,
doves in gloves, gnus in shoes, coots in boots,
mites in tights, flies in ties and Westies in vesties.
Next were the kittens in mittens, then rabbits in habits,
pigs in wigs, ants in pants, frogs in clogs,
dippers in slippers, gnats in hats, foxes in sockses,
rooks in trucs, hares in flares, and whales in veils.
On they trooped, the plaice in braces, then baboons in pantaloons,
meeces in fleeces, coos in trews, newts in suits,
eels in heels, stoats in coats, yaks in macs,
apes in capes, llamas in pyjamas and mules in cagoules.
Last few now they came: the gophers in loafers, then voles in stoles,
leeches in breeches, jays in stays, quails in tails,
ocelots in culottes, woodcocks in bedsocks, mallards in tabards,
kippers in flippers, lynx in minks and giraffes in scarfs.
By the end of the show the audience was frantic,
Every last beast had looked so romantic.
But more was to come – they all were aghast –
the designers had saved the best until last.
To call it a sensation you couldn’t refuse.
“my goodness!”, “well, I never!”…kangaroos in Jimmy Choo’s.
By Grace Collison-Owen
Y8 St Leonards School
FIRST PRIZE – Senior Category
An elephant in a match box
A fish in the desert
A hedgehog in a room of balloons
A cow in a burger factory
I’m an Outsider.
An onion in a fruit salad
A bird under water
A train at an airport
A tiger in a pet shop
An Olympic runner in a swimming pool
A drummer in a wind band
A maths teacher in the English department
A cat in a dog kennel
I’m an Outsider.
By Callum Chirnside
S1 Madras College
Second Prize – Senior Category
A statue.
It must feel lonely,
standing there.
People pass it by every day.
They don’t appreciate it,
It’s just a thing in the street..
Alienated.
It is silent and nobody talks to it.
But its eyes seem to watch us,
and when anyone caring enough to gaze back looks,
they see something peering into darkness,
something troubled,
like it will never be happy again.
Excluded by a chasm of history.
Achieving then,
anguished now.
Applauded then,
anonymous now.
Although a memory of a real,
once special person,
we regard it as just stone.
But the value of a soul,
past or present,
is never stone.
Stone could be a bridge over isolation.
The Gateway to compassion.
A pathway for wisdom from the past.
By Monty Shield
S1 Madras College
Third Prize – Senior Category
This poem was chosen by John Hegley as the winner in the competition he ran at his
Performance event for children. Unfortunately we don't have an address for
Robbie King, the winner. If you can help, please email the Webmaster.
This is an archive page. To visit the current StAnza site, go to www.stanzapoetry.org.uk