4th Prize – H Somerset with:

A Moment

The coast path leads me on,
no person, no house, no road.
I walk, welcoming solitude
gathering pace, the space all mine.
Cliffs, waves, sunshine and me.

The sea, blue-grey, meets a mackerel sky,
spanning my vision till in turn it meets
the land. I walk, a drop to foaming white
on one side; on the other, sun-bleached green.
Cliffs carve the landscape in two.

I embrace the sky. “I’m free,” I sing.
“I’m free.” No unwelcome response,
just me and the rumbling waves below.
I savour the smell of salty sea.

I stand, eyes closed, breeze on my face,
the tang of the sea, whisper of the waves.
I stand, holding the moment in my palm.

Critique by Competition Adjudicator, Alison Chisholm
The fourth prizewinner is A Moment, coincidentally also about a walk, but here with an exuberance which draws the reader in to the poem. Simplicity of expression is enriched by slant rhyme to create a fine, feel-good piece.