National Poetry Day competition – 18 to 31 August 2025

Write, inspire and compete!
In celebration of National Poetry Day, we ran a Poetry competition. Winners will have their poem printed on a tote bag!

Judges' comments

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Christchurch City Libraries Poetry Competition. We had a total of 235 entries from across the library network in styles that included haiku, rhyming couplets, found poetry, free verse and more! The judges enjoyed the wide range of themes explored and would like to thank everyone for taking the time to write and submit their poems.

The poems that stood out for the judges were the ones that told a story or used language in interesting ways. They were particularly impressed by the creative expression from the primary and secondary entrants and noted that a couple of winners were only 9 years old!

Winners - Adult

The Second Month by Sandi Harrison

I return to their house between the banyans,
to the sterile room of comfort things.

My hands lift and lower snow globes and threadbare flags,
move them around on the hardwood shelf.
The photos are creased,
faces smeared by thumbprints,
as though rubbing your gaze
would bring me closer.

I hide under the covers when the mother comes home.

My breath beneath the fabric becomes hot monsoon rain.
My pulse is wrapped in the skin of the lizard at my windowsill.

“I don’t want to be sent back,” I whisper
to the sweating air,
the squat toilet,
the spicy banana jam,
across five thousand miles of folding sea.

Five Moko Boy by Sally Nutira

Chaos in the morning, hustle, shout, and cheer.
Five moko boys are buzzing. School time’s nearly here!
Lunches still half ready, shoes not in a pair,
uniforms all wrinkled, but nobody cares.
One’s lost a sock, another’s lost a shoe,
someone’s chasing Weet-bix, the milk is missing too.
But laughter fills the hallway, it tumbles on the breeze.
Five moko boys who start the day,
 with chaos and with ease!

Wisdom by Sumeera Dawood

There is something infinitely beautiful about peeling wood
The way it renders itself to air:
Fingers curling around it,
back arching over it,
breasts drooping down.

Bark gives way
to thin wisps of dark curls give way
to brown sheets of peeling wood give way
to a stark, cream block of solidness.

Point of View by Karin Bathgate

my lawn is all clover and bees
and the only safe spot for bare skin
is the short path to the clothesline
where I lie and watch the clouds
and photograph my gardening gloves
hanging on the line above
as if
I’d actually been gardening
and the beds are not a jungle
of grass and weeds and vine
causing the flock of gulls
heading out to sea above me
to pause mid-flight
and consider a descent
into this fool’s paradise

The World War Has Not Yet Reached the South Island by Santiago Bonhomme

The world war has not yet reached the South Island.
The morning carries its ordinary weight,
as if the hours were unaware
of what breaks beyond the horizon.

Elsewhere the night is filled with rubble,
cities unravel on the news
and voices arrive fractured,
their silence heavier than words.

Here, the day still bends toward habit:
a cup left cooling,
a conversation that lingers too long,
doors locked without suspicion.

Yet nothing holds forever.
If the war should arrive,
the last certainty remaining
will be the way we face each other now.

Poetry Winner - Secondary

Wild Brothers by Eva Krulak

I’ve got wild brothers.
Brothers who build forts by the river,
brothers who use multitools underage,
brothers who jump around the house when they’re stuck inside for an hour
or two.
I’ve got brothers who are wild,
wild like a tiger,
wild like a blackberry bush overgrown.
I’ve got brothers who are wild when they’re mad,
brothers who are wild when they shout,
wild when they wrestle.
I’ve got wild brothers who jump off bridges.
My wild brothers are perfect the way they are.
my wild brothers are only my wild brothers.
But they are not really mine,
they belong to the wild.

Poetry Winners - Primary

In the Bush by Eliza Dalton

In the Bush,
a tui called a sweet melodic song.
Echoing off the trees around her.
A rich smell of dirt and flowers and muddied tree roots
filled my eager nose and tongue
                coating them.
I could feel the piles of decomposing leaves under my feet.
And then the tui called again.

Fly by Sora Winn

I’m a fly.
I fluttered by.
Making my little buzzing sound.
As I flew around, and around.
It was a trap.
I could not flap.
This sheer and clear piece of glass.
I can see the grass
This cup of tin, behind me, and I’m in.

Acrostic Poem by Everest Baird

Putting our cones,
Like Goals,
Afternoons of fun,
Yelling with your friends,
In the bright sun.
Noone is getting tired,
Goals are being scored.

Someone’s mum calls and we all go home.
Pies with salad for dinner.
Our curtains are closed,
Reading in bed.
This dream is amazing,
Snoring away.

Waterfall by Jessie Whitehead

Water paints the hillside
molding rocks.

Ferns arching over
aging like humans.

Water gushes to an end
the colour of mist, spraying my face.

I hold my breath
I plunge in.

Autumn by Anousha Askarinejad

Remember the time we were hunting for Easter eggs and raced each other through the crispy crunchy leaves?
Remember when one of the eggs was hidden in a tree the wrapper soaked with wet Autumn dew?
Remember the time we were at the park running through the floating red leaf rain?
That was Autumn.
Remember the time when a drizzle of rain came and the damp, steamy smell of air afterwards?
Remember when the daylight saving started to fade away so we had to come in at five o’clock?
That was Autumn.
Remember the field of poppies standing proud and well grown?
Remember the artists in the street painting a mural of reds, oranges, and yellows?
That was Autumn.

Download entry form [167KB PDF]

Terms and Conditions

• Competition is open from Monday 18 August to Sunday 31 August
• There are three categories – Primary, Secondary and Adults
• One poem per entrant
• 16 line limit for poem
• Judges decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into
• Winners will be announced on Christchurch City Libraries website on Monday 22 September
• Submitted poems may be reproduced on our website or displayed in Libraries
• Entries will not be returned

Why poetry?

Poetry is an often undervalued and underappreciated artform. Engaging with poetry has benefits across every age and stage of life as it provides an outlet for creativity and self-expression. It is a place to play with language, explore concepts, and unleash the imagination. Poetry can be considered ‘one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity’ (UNESCO).

‘Poetry belongs to all of us; everyone can read poems, make up poems or share poems with others. Though we often talk about poetry being dense or difficult, poems are able to present complicated or challenging ideas in ways that we carry around in our heads. They help us ask questions about the world, how we use words and who we are.  (What is Poetry?, 2016, pg 6 Michael Rosen)

Visit our Poetry page for more

Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day

Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day is a one-day celebration of New Zealand poetry run each year since 1997. In 2025 National Poetry Day is on Friday 22 August.

• Visit our National Poetry Day page
• View all the Poetry Day events in Canterbury
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