Poetic perfection

Currently in Year 10, Aditya entered the senior level of the Independent Schools Association’s annual competition, which is open to over 600 schools and provides a fantastic opportunity for young people to showcase their poetry writing skills.

Aditya said: “For my GCSE English Literature at Wetherby Senior, we have been looking at the English anthology, a collection of poems and short prose fiction. This inspired me as I sat down to write my own poem, particularly when I thought about the war poetry that we had examined in class.

“My parents were, of course, delighted to hear that I had won, and it turns out my grandfather was also quite an accomplished poet in his youth! I would definitely encourage other pupils at Wetherby Senior to enter this competition in the future. My tip would be to try to build your vocabulary by reading widely, especially work by one of my favourite authors – Philip Pullman.”

Aditya’s entry received high praise from the ISA Poetry Competition judges, who are also renowned poets. One said: “Aditya’s piece punched me in the stomach. I would love to sit and have a conversation about what you read and are inspired by, Aditya. You have a weight and power in your words that I find simultaneously inspiring and reassuring. I hope you have plans to write more, because this feels like the tip of an incredibly talented iceberg.”

Ms Murray, Head of English at Wetherby Senior, added: “All in our English Department are so pleased and proud of Aditya, and we can only echo the wonderful individual feedback that he received from the judges. His poem demonstrates his creativity, imagination, and hard work, and we are thrilled to see him succeed in such a renowned competition . Well done, Aditya!”

Aditya’s award-winning poem is below:

I Never Knew
I never knew how vigorous the aversion
That was forced between us,
How we were told about the frigidness
Of the midnight river where no ship can ever sail.

For the cause of counterfeit freedom,
Preached by those who suffer scarcely,
We give our lives so moderate and effortlessly
Like a falcon gliding in the air – seeking for its prey.

Plagued by an abundance of fabrication; remembered as a hero,
But the truth is, I never knew,
The ugly world that lay between fiction and reality.
Multitudinous lives lost for the confrontation of the few.

The remorseless ticking of deaths and more deaths,
A plethora of demises plunged into time’s irreversible river,
My love, my love, my love he repented and cried
Moments before his blessed soul died.

I never knew the treacherous game’s finality,
Where individuals become trapped in the slaughter of battle
Now I have found out the horror, trauma and spectre of combat
I never knew how lamentable it was.