Rotary Young Writer winner

 Rotary Young Writer is a national competition for Rotary clubs in Great Britain and Ireland to submit sponsored entries. These can be prose or poems, and the theme this year was "Peace". 

We are delighted to say that our sponsored student, Joanna Dani from St Mary’s Primary School, who was the winner in the Junior competition (ages 7 to 11) in the local round and then in the District 1145 round, has now come out triumphant in the National round, her entry having been judged against all the winning entries from all over the country. "What an achievement!" says Dion Scherer, who sponsored her and followed her ever step of the way.

Here is her winning entry.

                                        Peace

Peace was a young child, just like you and me,

Its ironic that he was excessively mischievous and angry.

He was petrified by war and could never control his anger,

He was more warlike than peaceful, and his temper made a large clamour.

One fine day people heard a great CRASH,

Someone shouted, “Get your guns from the military’s stash!”

Another warned, “War is coming, send your children far away

They’ll be taken to war if they try to stay.”

War was coming at them like a bull in rage, 

They’d be trampled over and tossed if they tried to engage.

A short time after we find Peace sitting alone on a bench,

He had joined the other fleeing children, to avoid the trench.

He sat there in irritation waiting as patiently as he could,

“Just a little longer”, he told himself, a home to foster him, he’d find one, he would.

He was older than most, so he wasn’t the right age to be here, 

Thinking of this his anger was kindled and his eyes began to tear.

Blind with rage, he stormed away, 

And perched on a capacious¹ cart for the rest of the day.

After a while, exhausted, he lay down to rest.

Wrapping some cloth around him to make a tiny nest.

As the cart reached its final destination, he was loudly woken by a voice saying:

“Go get your gun, for what am I paying?”

As he scurried away, he bumped into a soldier

Who seemed to be much braver and bolder

But he was not; though he said: “ To give my life so others may live, that’s what I’m here for.”

A sudden urge filled Peace: TO END THIS WAR!

Peace ran into the battlefield in his sack cloth and ashes

Screaming “Be at peace!”; as another bomb crashes

He pressed on though he knew he could not end this fight alone

Until a sly little bullet pierced his bone.

As his agonised body hit the ground,

Everything, everyone stopped, there was no other sound.

Silence. Then a young soldier, the same as before,

Jumped out of the trench seeing the helpless body, lying still, on the floor.

Then another one came from the opposite side,

One by one, a crowd, curious to hear the last thought on Peace’s mind

He whispered, “Blessed are the peacemakers² … from there it all starts,

Then the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our minds and hearts³.”

By Joanna Cheryl Dani (6VG)

^{1. Spacious  2. Matthew 5:9  3. Philippians 4:7}