Celebrating Sixth Form Life – By Verity Street (L6)

When presented with the theme of War and Conflict, I immediately thought of the Armistice and the significance of the number eleven within that. I decided to write eleven lines of poetry to reflect that, with the lines themselves reflecting the pain and suffering war can cause to not only the soldiers, but the families and friends back home. I started by writing numbers down the page - to keep track of how much I was writing - but it dawned on me that I could use these numbers as an integral part of my poem, to really draw attention to the number of lines in my unconventional structure. After months of waiting for the competition results (and perhaps forgetting I had entered in the first place) I was surprised and delighted to hear that I had placed first in poetry for the 16-18 category in the Never Such Innocence competition. It showed me how unconventional methods pay off sometimes, and I certainly had fun trying this new style of writing.

ONE MESSAGE WAS ALL IT TOOK

by Verity Street

One message was all it took to make her fall apart.
Two days alone it took to slowly calm her heart.
Three times she thought of him and three times she cried.
Four children left with her, as their father died.
Five friends to comfort her, though none of them could know.
Six seconds to explode after the grenade throw.
Seven others in his squad that now lie in the mud.
Eight solemn corpses hidden in their pools of blood.
Nine days of clueless bliss until the news was heard.
Ten weeks before the truce was signed, as was their word.
Eleven years of love put to an end by pointless war.