Poem with a powerful message

By John Lewis

Sep 21, 2021

Darcy Mintern's poem A Hopeful Dream won first prize in this year's Joseph Furphy junior poetry award.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Grahamvale Primary School Year 6 student said he was inspired by the idea of a midnight clock counting down the minutes to earth's destruction, unless people act to avoid drastic climate change.

“I've always been a big supporter of the environment, and I feel very passionate about it,” Darcy said.

Junior poetry judge Tru Dowling described Darcy's poem as "memorable” and said she was "wowed" by the poem's sophisticated attempt to understand how vulnerable the natural world is to climate change.

“Darcy handled the complex struggle between human destruction and hopeful effort with subtle beauty and thoughtfulness,” Ms Dowling said.

Darcy, 12, said he had always enjoyed writing.

“I write down little phrases I see, and keep a notebook,” he said.

He said he enjoyed the poems of Edgar Allan Poe.

Darcy said it was the first time he had entered into a competition, but this year's win had inspired him to enter again next year.

By John Lewis

Columnist