Writers Forum #99 January 2010

POETRY CONTEST
Ingathering
Writers FORUM
Christina Withyman, Hereford
Want to see YOUR poem
This is the time of ingathering,
published in these pages?
of pulling apples from the bough,
of loading and carrying
Any topic, any style – all entries welcome! Rhyming or free verse,
while the berry is bright on the bramble
haiku or sonnet, funny, sad, romantic or angry…
and rose hips gleam on the bush.
First prize £100
A time of the fullness of growing Runners-up receive dictionaries
of yielding and letting go;
of an emptiness and a giving,
ENTER AS MANY POEMS AS YOU LIKE
a hand outstretched and then full
£5 FOR FIRST POEM – £3 FOR OTHERS
an apple resting in the palm.
● Poems must be a maximum of 40 lines and printed on A4.
Fingers stained purple picking berries
● Give your name, address, phone number and email address.
their clusters of jet globes shining and full.
● Add a brief biography of yourself: age, occupation, family,
A time of sorting and storing
writing career to date, favourite poets.
of sharing and husbanding. ● Entry fee is £5 for one poem, £3 for subsequent poems in the
A hut full of the scent of apples, same entry. Cheques (in sterling only) should be made payable
a sweetness that lingers on clothes and ﬁ ngers. to ‘Select Publisher Services’, ﬁ ll in your credit-card details
Trays hold their crop of colour: below or pay online at www.writers-forum.com
yellow and crimson, green blushed with pink.
● All entries with an sae receive a short critique
The rosehips’ lacquered brilliance
How to enter
is soft and sweet to taste;
Fill in the coupon below (photocopies are acceptable) and
blackberries soften and burst in ripeness.
post with your cheque or credit-card details to:
Sweetness in all its ways shows itself lovely.
This sweet rich season of completion.
Writers’ Forum Poetry Contest
PO Box 6337, Bournemouth BH1 9EH
By entering, you will have been deemed to agree for the poem to
appear in Writers’ Forum and future Writers’ Forum anthologies.
Another December Morning
The competition is open worldwide but entries must be in English.
Alexander J Blustin, Cambridge
Deadline: 15th of each month. Late entries go into the next contest.
Name
Christmas, we keep meeting here.
Sad carols from the brass band mourn Address
The death of yet another year.
Postcode
It’s times like these that death seems near,
Though Spring is soon to be reborn.
Poem titles
Christmas, we keep meeting here;
Though it seems time to be sincere,
Though it seems time to frown and warn,
The death of yet another year
Incites your baubles to appear

I declare that this poetry has not previously been published
And all the vapid, sparkly spawn
or broadcast and that it is my own work
Of Christmas. We keep meeting here,
Signed
And like a child I still revere
Your glinting dark before the dawn.
I enclose (please tick)

my poem(s)

payment of £
The death of yet another year

a stamped self-addressed envelope for my tick-box critique
Will have me learning not to fear
I would like my entry to be considered for a poetry workshop
The creeping frost across the lawn
and to be critiqued in Writers’ Forum
At Christmas. We’ll keep meeting here,
To welcome yet a future year.

OPTIONAL Please enrol me for an annual subscription
at the price of £33 (UK) or £46 (Europe and rest of world)
Visa/Mastercard/Switch/Maestro (delete) Total £
There are ﬁ ve commended poems this month: Card no
Down Low by Claire Buckland, Hereford
The Much Maligned Smockgeezle by John R Lee, Cardiff
Expiry date Valid from (if shown)
I May Be Away Some Time by Deborah Moorhouse, Whitley Bay
Issue no (if shown) Security no (last 3 digits)
Afternoon in Como by John C Bird, Solihull
Cooper’s Shoot by Oliver Everott, Chelmsford
Signature
Writers
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FORUM #99 57
WF99JAN56.indd 2 24/11/2009 10:19:13
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