In Competition No. 2905 you were invited to write a sonnet whose lines begin with the letters R,O,Y,G,B,I,V,V,I,B,G,Y,O,R, in that order.
Thanks to Frank McDonald for suggesting this gem of a competition. I ummed and ahed over what was a vast and accomplished entry trying to whittle it down to a winning seven. It wasn’t easy. Those that missed the cut — Bill Greenwell, Brian Allgar, John Whitworth, Adrienne Parker, Pippa Crawford, Priscilla Bench-Capon, David Silverman and Tim Raikes — did so by the narrowest of margins. Congratulations, all round.
The winners, printed below, are rewarded with £20 each. The bonus fiver goes to Alan Millard’s sonnet on the Labour leadership contenders.
Resolved, all four, to right the nation’s wrongs
On winning favour all their futures rest:
Yvette, with impish smile, for victory longs,
Grey Jeremy seeks power for the oppressed,
Brunette-haired Liz for wealth creation fights,
Immediate help for all is Andy’s dream;
Vaunting various talents, each invites
Votes for the leadership of Labour’s team;
Inevitably one of them will win
But we, desiring some alternative,
Grown weary of the politician’s spin,
Yearn earnestly for more than they can give.
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