2nd Prize – Mary Barnes with:

Mermaid

You think it’s easy
toiling and coiling my mer-thing’s tail,
squeezing and strangling those tasty boys?
On the surface
I’m all symmetry,
all tressy hair and shapely arms.

What can you know
from my maid’s face
of the struggle below?
Why must they fight
my tight embrace?
Why resist my snaky snare?

It’s all so hopeless
I can never love them
I’ll toss their pale shapes back
when I have drunk my fill.

Here above I must smile
and sing to you
and only my mirror knows…and shows
my vampire face. 

Critique by Competition Adjudicator, Alison Chisholm
Second prize is awarded to Mermaid, another familiar theme given an exciting new twist. The innocent hair-comber shows her true colours, with a tiny hint of the gorgon and a massive salute to the vampire. Irregularly placed rhymes and slant rhymes complement the disturbing effect of the content.