Open poetry competitions give poets an opportunity to find their favourite or their best poem, and submit it knowing that it fits into the parameters of the competition. It also gives far too many options, like the cliché of the child in the sweetshop who can’t make up their mind because there is just too much choice. When poets have the limits of the universe to select from alongside their unlimited imagination, it can be surprising that the same topics arise several times among the entries. On this occasion there was a little duplication of ideas, but poems on a vast array of themes jostled for attention. There were pastoral and philosophical pieces, biblical references and a smattering of witchcraft, mythology, mothers, hate and love. At least a dozen different set forms were represented, and some free verse of the highest quality.
Some poems had a message that
