Kia ora aspiring poets, and up-and-coming sonneteers! Tūhono, Wellington City Libraries’ poetry journal for children and teens, is now open for submissions until 14 December!
This gives you a little more time to write a poem, and send us your creations! We have loved reading all the wonderful poems sent into us so far!
This year, the theme is “Whakangā | Breath.” Whakangā refers to the taking in of breath, or to the process of breathing. It also calls to mind the idea of inhaling from the world; taking a breath to create calm; taking time to stop, slow down, relax, be.
Unlike some other poetry journals, having your work accepted in Tūhono is not a competition — as long as you follow the rules of submission, every piece of work that gets sent to us will be published. Tūhono itself — the collection of poetry from young people all over Wellington — will be published as an eBook on OverDrive, and in a limited print run for our libraries, so that everyone with a library card can borrow it and bask in your talent and glory! Check out previous editions of Tūhono on our catalogue here.
Last blog, we shared some of the awesome poems from 2020, so for this one, we’ll turn to some of the incredible works from 2021! Here’s a few of our favourites!
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Alone — Tiana
Alone
Alone can taste like a sour lolly
Alone can feel like a bee stinging
Alone can sound like a roar of laughter
Alone looks like nothing
Alone can smell like the only clean sock
in a wash basket of smelly socks.
— Tiana
2. The Run — Vanessa
The run
Goosebumps fled, screaming up my arms
Promptly refusing to hold
The inevitable droopy puddles
Belonging to my raw feet.
Muttering silent cries of regret
Our class crept up up the road
As silent as a spider hunting its prey
Shadows flickered in the shallow light
Of the nervous moon
Gravel crunched beneath my shaking feet
Like snapping sticks
We started, clinging tightly together
As we descended
Down the winding wave of shadows
Tall trees loomed threateningly
Over our scrawny group.
A splash was followed closely
By angry curses up ahead
Head torches snapped on
Bobbing up and down like giddy fireflies
While the rain started drizzling down leisurely
Centuries later
Soaked, sweaty, and thoroughly mud splattered
We turned around and headed home.
Half way done.
— Vanessa
3. The Forgotten Lake — Quinn
The forgotten lake
My shaking reflection in the mucky water
This water used to be clear and beautiful now you can barely see the bottom
The smell of all the trash smells like slaughter
The lake is so rotten and filthy it has become forgotten
— Quinn
4. Guen
Guen
My name is Guen
My hair is yellow and blue, wet like rain
My eyes are orange and big like an elephant
My smile is funny and tall like a flower garden
My laugh is white like a keyboard
My shirt is purple like Shirley
The sky is purple like tissues
And I am soft like a puppy
— Guen