A new twist on an Old English saga

Sixth-Former Surya Bowyer’s modern take on Beowulf has won him plaudits in a national poetry competition.

His poem was among 85 commended from among the record-breaking 7,500 entries for this year’s worldwide Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, which is run annually by the Poetry Society. Surya, of Year 13, attended a ceremony, at which the commended young poets as well as the 15 overall winners were honoured. The top 15 poems will be published in an anthology.

QE’s Head of English, Susannah Sweetman said: “Surya’s poem demonstrates his talent for creative writing. I am very proud of his achievement and I hope that he inspires other students to take up creative writing as a hobby.”

Surya’s poem:

Meanwhile, a thane of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict meter

So. Whilst you're partying

In LA with all its acid lighting

And forgotten rules

            and piling into cars

Belonging to strangers

            commandeering worm-driven vehicles

                        snaking

And while

Overburdened is just another word for proximity

            another excuse, a yawned arm-movement

Your face no longer goes red

"It's a flag!" I said,

            "It's a sign!"

She says: "I want the ice-cream on top of those cookies,

I want you, mine"

 And I finally start listening to what my parents say

Telling me I need a car

and

"Why don't you wonder normal things?"

Oh how I am indebted to those paired old sparring boars

"Because they've all already been wandered, before."