Articles - Miscellaneous

"Colours of Peace"

The organisation, "Together for Peace" launched in Leeds in November 2003 and now with over 100 affiliated groups, celebrates and invigorates an emerging movement striving to make peace a reality in this city and beyond.

The 2005 Festival from 5th to 20th November, incorporated some 75 varying activities and events throughout Leeds. One such very popular event was the Leeds Peace Poetry Competition with the final celebrations held in Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane on Friday 18th November. The theme of the Poetry Competition was designated "Colours of Peace" and it attracted over 1200 entries from school students and adults across the city. The standard was consistently high and the preliminary judges were said to be "stimulated, overwhelmed and exhausted" by their task of appraisal.

Each of the 34 short-listed poems in the contest was read aloud by a professional and with suitable musical interludes and a very generous buffet supper to round off the proceedings, everyone had a wonderful evening's entertainment.

A large and distinguished audience attended this celebration and the presentation of the awards' ceremony by the chief Judge, Ian McMillan, the popular Barnsley poet and writer. Mrs Ann Coates, a member of Stainbeck United Reformed Church, was the winner in the adult section and we offer our congratulations. We are grateful for permission to print her award winning poem. Perhaps some of the writers from St Edmund's can be encouraged to enter the 4th Annual Peace Poetry Competition in 2006?

Joyce Sundram

Colours of peace by Ann Coates

Physics was never my favourite.
There is little that I can recall of
magnets, reflection, refraction -
Nothing remembered at all.

Just one spinning white disc I remember
that ate up the whole rainbow arc -
The anger of red, pride of purple,
cowardly yellow and envy of green,
the noisy ebullience of orange,
the fears and the worries of blue
and the whispers of dark indigo.

Each struggled to gain his dominion
but a spin caused their conflicts to cease.
It whirled them and spun till they became
one.
Together in one clear,
one shining,
white
peace.

30 December, 2005