Poetry Success
By Ballyclare High School on 16 April, 2021
Congratulations to 6th form pupil Amy Blackbourne whose composition ‘A VIEW FROM HERE’ is the winning entry in Ulster University’s Poetry Competition organised by the English subject team at Ulster University and School Partnerships.
Her poem was highly praised by the judges who were unanimous in awarding Amy First Place. The judges further commented that ‘A VIEW FROM HERE’ is a stark and angry statement about the current environmental crisis that we face that demonstrates much talent and ability, showing adeptness in balancing the important message of the text with a clever and responsive awareness of the form of the poem. Amy’s poem is a subtle creative piece where every word carried significance and meaning that culminates in a very powerful final line.
Amy has won a trip for her class to the Seamus Heaney Homeplace when restriction allow as well ask some Seamus Heaney works.
Well done Amy!
A VIEW FROM HERE
I see
ignorance
float like the ice-caps on seas of empty promises
exposing
I realise
oblivion
wraps blankets of thick fossil fuels smog around heads
comforting
but its stench has suffocated us silently
blindly
bleeding into fresh waters flowing peace
destroying
I watch
panic
rise in the sea levels
engulfing us
while we cling to disbelief
until there is no view from here
Amy Blackbourne Year 13
