BEST OF THE BUNCH

In the midst of a severe Covid lockdown, the challenge of writing a perfect poem for WM’s Open Competition offered a happier focus, and was embraced by legions of Writing Magazine poets, resulting in a wealth of entries. Although these covered many areas of subject matter, the virus in various guises dominated all other themes, while poems about the beauties of nature and the progression of the seasons also proliferated.

Many poems were inspired by clever and thought-provoking ideas, which were pursued and explored as the poems developed. Some, though, had a good idea at their heart, but there was no apparent thinking around it to move it beyond the flash-of-inspiration stage. The good idea is the start; it’s where we take it that demonstrates skill as a poet.

Entries covered all forms, from the brevity of the haiku to the drawn-out sestina, with sonnets proving to be the most