Derek Villaceran, a Year 12 student at Lilydale High School, has won the Student Poetry Competition in the Years 11-12 section for his poem, Summer Longings. Here, he reads his winning poem.
Derek Villaceran, a Year 12 student at Lilydale High School, has won the Student Poetry Competition in the Years 11-12 section for his poem, Summer Longings.
The competition, part of our Arts Learning Festival, was open to students from all school sectors, and attracted more than 300 entries.
Announcing the winners, ISV Chief Executive Michelle Green said she was impressed by the creative confidence and optimism of the poems.
‘They have drawn on nature, natural disasters and personal experience to find strength and confidence in extremely difficult times,’ Ms Green said.
This is what the judges said about Derek’s poem:
The well-built lines with smooth transitions capture and contrast the colourful carefree days of childhood with the sombre consciousness of ageing.
You can watch Derek read the poem in the video below, and read it for yourself, along with the students awarded honourable mentions in the category for their outstanding work.
Every day this week, we’ll be sharing videos of our winners reciting their poems.
You can also watch these videos:
Adele Bilney, winner in the Prep-Year 2 category, reading her poem, Winter, by clicking here.
Mehak Soin, winner in the Years 3-4 category, reading her poem, Silver Lining, by clicking here.
Felicity van Rensburg, winner in the Years 5-6, reading her poem, After the Fire, by clicking here.
Ravin Rathnayake, winner in the Years 7-8 category, reading his poem, by clicking here.
Haelie Roberts, winner in the Years 9-10, reading her poem, Hope in a Whistle.
You can also find full result details in the news section of the Arts Learning Festival website.
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Summer Longings, by Derek Villaceran
Those rubies falling from the sky
Glistening deep scarlet all around
Bright orange, vibrant like topaz
And yellows as bright as pure gold
Fall once again taking its place
Trees breaking down in the coming cold
Becoming stripped to the bare bones,
Yet they wait for their soon rebirth.
Those wintry days full of loneliness.
An endless sense of incompletion
An endless sense of listlessness.
All around us are clear diamonds
Tear dropped diamonds that pitter patter
in an endless soft rhythm.
With my coloured world so far away.
Peering into the grey void sky.
My adventures, but a distant dream,
as I await the first call of life.
The murmurings of creatures.
The birdsong all around us.
The frozen scenery awakens.
With ice in my heart thawed out.
Let the warmth of sunlight take me.
Let the gentle light rest on my face,
As I dream of those mirages
A dream of a long gone past.
That summer of my childhood.
The endless echoes of joy.
And the beckoning of companions.
All are but fragments of my memory.
Must I age ever so quickly?
This never-ending cycle of seasons.
Forever I am lost in the past.
Seeking a way to go back
A way back to that Summer.
But I continue walking.
Step by step.
Seeking that childhood in the sunset,
No matter the piling changes in life.
No matter the stinging pain,
no matter the longing in my heart.
Forever looking behind my shoulder
Picking up those pieces of me.
Piece by piece.
“Towards a new future”, I say.
But I can still hear the cicadas from that day.
Honourable mentions
Winni Graham, Year 12, Wonthaggi Secondary College
The Price of Wisdom
Charlie Shiel, Year 11, Genezzano FCJ College
Rural Revelation
Winners in other sections
Prep-Year 2
Winter, by Adele Bilney, Year 2, Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School
Years 3-4
Silver Lining, by Mehak Soin, Year 4, Melbourne Girls Grammar
Years 5-6
After the Fire, by Felicity van Rensburg, Year 5, Harkaway Hills College
Years 7-8
Hope, by Ravin Rathnayake, Year 8, Haileybury College Edrington
Years 9-10
Hope in a Whistle, by Haelie Roberts, Year 9, Olivet Christian College
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