Winners 2006 : Runner-up : David Devanny

Summer School 2010

The 7th Tower Poetry Summer School (24-27 August) for young poets aged 18-23 will be held in Christ Church Oxford.

Poetry Matters

Poetry Matters is an exciting on-line poetry magazine which provides a fresh, dynamic perspective on poetry issues through a mix of news, reviews and comment.

David Devanny

Bradford Grammar School

The House

Tho u have built this world
tho u now burn it
we r your children
n so we 4give u.
Ths is not the only Dfence of my generation
ths is wot I say…

On a hill there is a house,
it is bare n abandoned
n it has been ths way 4 many years,
it is the feelin u get after 2 much cake
but with a pounding heart
so heavy the veins could burst.
Thats not the reason we went.
We climbed thru a broken window,
the house was drafty, deserted,
it smelt of piss.
So much was dark n broken.
We will break more.
R fear nervously slips thru the holes in the stairs,
n ½ under the stars from the shattered ceiling,
we tear planks 2 bridge the gap.
Here is r wall where we draw r lusts,
it is not just ours,
others come here
they paint n break n build
i must c what they have done
i luv it
i respekt it
but i get scared.

2day we r not vandals
we r not antisocial
nor r we careless n lazy
2day we r artists
we r adventurers
n we r builders
we have made ths r house
that u abandoned n left 4 scrap
we have made it beautiful
so do not scorn us
do not moan of 2days youth
n do not expekt us 2 fear u

About Tower Poetry

Tower Poetry exists to encourage and challenge everyone who reads or writes poetry. Funded by a generous bequest to Christ Church, Oxford, by the late Christopher Tower, the aims of Tower Poetry are clear: to stimulate an enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. Creative writing should be a central element in literary education, and learning about writing poetry can help students to think about ways of reading poetry.

Publications

Change Promises:
The Christopher Tower Poetry Prize Winners 2010 (Digital Edition)

The winning poems from the 2010 prize are brought together in this exclusive digital-only edition.