Celestial Acne
Hey World!
I got some really good news last week, I placed in a global poetry competition which is my first poetry award of that scale! The competition is called the Foyle Young Poet Award which is a global poetry competition for young poets up to the age of 18. I have been entering this competition for several years and on results day have been met with 'Dear entrant, we are sorry to inform you that your poem has not been chosen for this year's award'... But this year, my email came in with my name in the first sentence and I knew that this was finally the year that I would place. Sure enough, my poem, 'Celestial Acne' placed in the top 85! The way this competition works is there are 100 over all winners, 15 winners, and 85 commended poets. The large amount of winners was what drew me to this competition, and I am so happy that I was able to place!
If you are a regular reader of my blog you will already know that my poetry is usually nature based, I am very fond of using organic imagery and personification in my poetry. However, I decided to change things a little bit for this competition and I am so glad that I did. Instead of dense prose I chose to write a more light-hearted, feel-good poem about Grandfathers caring about their grandchildren's dermatological laments, as well as having a peculiar way of reassuring them. It is a poem intended to make the reader smile.
I was entering the competition at the last minute as I usually do, and so after entering two classic imagery poems of mine, I made a split second decision I would enter one more poem- a poem that i wrote in about an hour and a half. A poem that diverged from my typically dense prose poems. I was actually in the U.S at the time in a hotel room on holiday and this is what I wrote very late at night:
'Celestial Acne'
As a result of my placing, I was invited to the very glamorous award ceremony in London last week which I was very lucky to attend. It was a gorgeous day in London and I had such a fantastic time meeting other poets who came.
I feel so lucky to have finally placed in this fabulous poetry competition, it has given me to much confidence as a writer, and now I have every reason to write like there is no nothing can stop me!
The idea for the poem had been in my head for a while, believe it or not. I was contemplated the moon one night and I suddenly thought the moon looked vaguely like an acne-ridden teenager. That was in the back of my mind for a while but I didn't do anything with it at first.The poem is actually based on true events. I really was lying upside down on the sofa and I did in fact discover my fifth spot of the week. By reading this poem I think you can ascertain what my priorities are (skincare) as a teenager. No, I do but jest.
Using this idea of the moon looking like a pockmarked teenager that had been floating around in my head for a while, I just let my mind take over because I didn't have time to doubt myself. I think that deadlines are good for that-they force you to stop procrastinating and worrying about whether whether your poetry is good enough and they allow you to get stuff done. I also think that it his healthy as a writer to change one's style every so often. You just have to be brave, and who knows, you might surprise yourself.
Think of the planet's next time you worry about your skin looking bad, fellow teenagers. You too can go on to be giants of the universe.
-Anna
I got some really good news last week, I placed in a global poetry competition which is my first poetry award of that scale! The competition is called the Foyle Young Poet Award which is a global poetry competition for young poets up to the age of 18. I have been entering this competition for several years and on results day have been met with 'Dear entrant, we are sorry to inform you that your poem has not been chosen for this year's award'... But this year, my email came in with my name in the first sentence and I knew that this was finally the year that I would place. Sure enough, my poem, 'Celestial Acne' placed in the top 85! The way this competition works is there are 100 over all winners, 15 winners, and 85 commended poets. The large amount of winners was what drew me to this competition, and I am so happy that I was able to place!
If you are a regular reader of my blog you will already know that my poetry is usually nature based, I am very fond of using organic imagery and personification in my poetry. However, I decided to change things a little bit for this competition and I am so glad that I did. Instead of dense prose I chose to write a more light-hearted, feel-good poem about Grandfathers caring about their grandchildren's dermatological laments, as well as having a peculiar way of reassuring them. It is a poem intended to make the reader smile.
I was entering the competition at the last minute as I usually do, and so after entering two classic imagery poems of mine, I made a split second decision I would enter one more poem- a poem that i wrote in about an hour and a half. A poem that diverged from my typically dense prose poems. I was actually in the U.S at the time in a hotel room on holiday and this is what I wrote very late at night:
'Celestial Acne'
Once,
when I
was
fresh fifteen,
I
was laying on the sofa upside
down,
absent mindedly touching my face,
While
Grandpa read the newspapers across the room,
muttering
about the anniversary for the moon landing
and
how he had
watched
it back in his day on TV
and
how times had changed
etc
etc,
When:
my
roving fingers discovered a life
form,
an
alien
presence
In
the crescent of my
outer-left-nostrel.
With
a wail I
informed
the house (and possibly the whole street)
That
I had a
new
spot,
my
fifth of the week!
My
fifth of the week!
Which
resulted in Granda lowering his newspaper a
fraction.
"Where?"
He asked, squinting through his half-moon glasses.
I
moaned, and indicated,
despairing.
"So?
Your not the only one with skin afflictions," He said.
Seeing
my venomous look he
quickly
hedged:
"I
mean, think about the moon! Talk about a pizza face!"
"The
moon?" I shrieked, incredulous.
"Yes!
Haven’t you ever noticed how many craters there are on his face?"
I
gave him a dubious eye roll (my fresh- fifteen speciality).
"Think
of Mars' rosacea!" he persisted,
"The
sun's psoriasis!"
"Venus's
eczema!"
"Saturn's
ringworm!"
"Jupiter's
moles!!!"
He
paused,
winded.
I
eyed him, curious to see
where
he was going with
this
outburst.
"So
you shouldn't feel bad
about
your skin. Think
of
those planets! They didn't let their celestial dermatology problems
stop
them. They went
on
to be giants in the universe.
So
will you."
Seeing
my confused look, he drove his point home with-
"You're
not alone, is all I'm saying."
Then,
"Have
you seen my slippers?"
I
smiled and shook my head before
laying
back down, feeling
strangely
reassured.
Later
I went to find
my
telescope.As a result of my placing, I was invited to the very glamorous award ceremony in London last week which I was very lucky to attend. It was a gorgeous day in London and I had such a fantastic time meeting other poets who came.
The idea for the poem had been in my head for a while, believe it or not. I was contemplated the moon one night and I suddenly thought the moon looked vaguely like an acne-ridden teenager. That was in the back of my mind for a while but I didn't do anything with it at first.The poem is actually based on true events. I really was lying upside down on the sofa and I did in fact discover my fifth spot of the week. By reading this poem I think you can ascertain what my priorities are (skincare) as a teenager. No, I do but jest.
Using this idea of the moon looking like a pockmarked teenager that had been floating around in my head for a while, I just let my mind take over because I didn't have time to doubt myself. I think that deadlines are good for that-they force you to stop procrastinating and worrying about whether whether your poetry is good enough and they allow you to get stuff done. I also think that it his healthy as a writer to change one's style every so often. You just have to be brave, and who knows, you might surprise yourself.
Think of the planet's next time you worry about your skin looking bad, fellow teenagers. You too can go on to be giants of the universe.
-Anna
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