Congratulations to Write Out Loud’s meeter and greeter and moderator Graham Sherwood, who has won first prize in a poetry competition in his home city of Milton Keynes!

Graham won with his poem ‘MK Fortean’, which talks of a “cuckoo conurbation” and “casino of communities” and concludes thus: “a courageously proud/ show carapace,/ by which I am blinded.”

He said: “I have lived in Milton Keynes for more than 40 years and have watched it grow from a destination shopping centre to a new modern city. Having finally thrown off its ‘concrete cows’ image the city is now a vibrant place for residents and visitors alike who are all continually amazed (as am I) that the place has so much going for it!

“I already knew of the MK Lit Fest from last year and decided to give it a go as poetry is so much a part of my life these days. Not expecting even a honourable mention imagine my astonishment upon being voted the winner of the adult category for poetry. Winning the competition has somewhat emboldened me to try other outlets for my writing. Who knows?”

Inspirational stuff, Graham! Here’s his winning poem in full:

 

MK FORTEAN

by Graham Sherwood

 

my

city of glass

lies secluded in plain sight,

hiding its avaricious persona

camouflaged behind mirrored

refractions and reflections,

my

cuckoo conurbation,

robber baron village devourer

slick consumer of consumers

pell-mell human spa

or hypno-magnetic

shangri-la,

my

casino of communities

entombed in mummified modernism

preserved under a fickle lens

a confused composite DNA

more helter-skelter

than helicoid

my

grid mat arterial entity,

that bleeds to oil and polish its

brilliant shimmering dermis

a courageously proud

show carapace,

by which I am blinded