Today (1st October) is National Poetry Day! A day where the nation celebrates creative writing through the medium of poetry and symbolism - from haikus to sonnets to lyrics! In aid of this, we ran a National OCL Poetry Competition inviting all students from across our 52 academies to submit their poems. 

We're absolutely delighted to share with you the following winners from Primary and Secondary! 

Primary winners

• War and Peace by Abdul at Oasis Academy Temple
• Autumn by Eleanor and Kimberley at Oasis Academy Foundry
• The Office by Working from Home by Hasti at Oasis Academy Woodview
• Mysteries of Nature by Aizah at Oasis Academy Hobmoor
• The Coral Reef by Zara at Oasis Academy Hobmoor

Secondary winners

• BLM by Nicole Neamu at Oasis Academy MediaCityUK
• Untitled by Jodi Iheme at Oasis Academy MediaCityUK
• No More by Matthew Armitage at Oasis Academy Wintringham
• Thames Poem by Insha Diouman at Oasis Academy Silvertown
• I don't like poetry by Insha Diouman at Oasis Academy Silvertown

Primary

War and Peace – by Abdul at Oasis Academy Temple

War is like a tsunami,

Diving and flushing away

Our hopes and dreams
 

War is like a hurricane,

Crashing towering buildings

All the way through
 

War is like a fire,

Advancing towards

Churches and towers
 

Peace is like a breeze,

Slipping between my soft

Fingers making me feel I’m

On the clouds.

 

Autumn – By Eleanor and Kimberley at Oasis Academy Foundry

I can see leaves falling

I can hear conkers dropping

I can smell bonfires.

 

The Office – Working From Home - by Hasti at Woodview

The office lay dormant waiting for a human soul,

The deafening silence in the secluded room was broken by a gust of air. 

The keyboards no longer sing in harmony to the sound of busy people breathing,

The half-full bottle thirsts for the sensation of being drank,

And the unopened parcels piled on top of each other. 
 

Drip drop,

The water trembled and shuddered as the soiled pots rested on the draining board.

The unutilized hand sanitisers were assembled neatly,

Bursting with the need of wanting to be used.
 

The radiator: idly hushed as it awaited for a signal to be turned on.

The dejected chairs perched and the thick grey blanket of dust engulfed the vacant desks.

 

Mysteries of Nature – by Aizah at Oasis Academy Hobmoor

While nature grows,

Around the trees.

Buzzing starts,

From bumble bees.
 

Listening to the mocking birds,

Singing in the morning,

Wake the people up,

From their soundly snoring.
 

Morning walkers,

Start walking around,

Seeing beautiful flowers,

Growing from the ground.
 

Raindrops fall,

From the clouds that are grey,

Making people wet,

As they walk away.
 

The blowing of the wind,

Getting colder and colder,

Making people shiver,

Starting from their shoulder.

 

The Coral Reef – by Zara Oasis Academy Hobmoor

The strange colourful wonderland,

Resting on the sand.

The underwater picture of the blue,

And lots of other colours too.
 

So many different kinds naturally made

Attracting us in many ways.

Shiny, thorny, pretty or curled

Around them the fish twirled.
 

However they turn grey and fade away,

Our pollution is making them decay.

We have to stop this disaster!

Before they are gone forever.

 

Secondary

BLM - Nicole Neamu Oasis Academy MediaCityUK

They stand there,

signs in their hands,

courage driving them,

shouting at the top of their lungs

wanting justice for their brothers and sisters.

 

Confronted and surrounded,

they carry on,

insulted and hurt,

they carry on,

carry on fighting for what’s right.

 

Slurs and swear words,

being hurled at them,

left and right,

they don’t stop

they know what they are there for,

and they wont leave.

 

One day,

We will all be equal,

In everyone’s eyes,

When that day comes,

Is the day we’ll stop fighting.

 

Untitled - Jodi Iheme Oasis Academy MediaCityUK

Black lives matter,

what does it mean.

Its not about how dark I am

or maybe what you see.

 

You may see me as aggressive

for standing up for what’s right

but you don’t know what it feels like

to be in a lifelong fight.

 

You get judged for nothing,

no matter what you do.

Its always ‘your people,’

but nobody really cares about you 

 

Just because you have ‘black friends’

doesn’t mean you get it

but its normal for you not to

nobody really does.

 

Black lives matter is not a trend

its about trying to put racism to an end.

You don’t have to protest.

Just try your best to understand

That we are not different

because of the colour of our hands

 

No More  - Matthew Armitage Oasis Academy Wintringham

The town was no more

Ashes of old buildings that were no more scattered the floor

Acrid smoke from the burning of one day happy and vibrant homes filled the air

The town was no more

 

Cots and coats still remained in the town, burnt and black

The church still remained, the cross still dripping a crimson red liquid

Bodies lay scattered around the town, lifeless

Birds were the only remaining sign of life

The was no more

 

The town, that people had once called their home, dead, dehumanised

They had never known anything more than that place, never ventured beyond its boundaries

And now, their souls lived in deep regret, cursing the smallness of life

The town was no more

 

Thames Poem – by Insha Diouman at Oasis Academy Silvertown

I walked by the silent calm river

Silent as midnight

Prussian blue as the starry night sky

 

I gazed at the sunset clouds

Like candy floss on top of the royal

Dark blue river

 

The never-ending towers greets the planes

As the towering cranes stand ominously

The small boats ready to launch off into the

Wild ever-lasting river…

 

I don’t like poetry  –  by Insha Diouman at Oasis Academy Silvertown

I don’t like similies

Every time I try to think of one

My brain feels like a

Black, dep ocean

My eyes feel like swollen red

Dry veins

My fingers feel like sweaty

Rough elephant skin

 

I don’t like metaphors

Whenever I attempt them

A stampede of rhinos start in my chest

My veins start to bubble like lava;

A zombie apocalypse starts in my stomach

 

I don’t like alliteration

We learnt it at school

It is

Definitely, disgusting, dumb

Absolutely, annoying, atrocious

Stupendously, stupid skills

 

I don’t like onomatopoeia

I wish I could blow it up

With a ZIP, a POW and a CLANG,

A BOOM and a BASH

 

And I don’t like rhyme

We learnt it at school

We were fed up with it

We had enough with this

It’s a pile of dust like a

Old bike rust

And also I don’t like repetition

I hate it

I hate it

I hate it!