Spectator competition winners: a sonnet on Theresa May’s rictus

The request for sonnets inspired by a well-known contemporary figure’s characteristic feature went down a storm. Entries ranged far and wide, from Victoria Beckham’s pout via Gorbachev’s birthmark to the rise – and fall – of Anthony Weiner’s penis. But both John O’Byrne and Barrie Godwin used Sonnet 18 to hymn hairstyles – Donald Trump’s and Boris Johnson’s respectively (Shall I compare thee to a bale of hay?/ Thou art more windblown and intemperate…’) There was a spot of preposition-related confusion this week – my fault entirely – and sonnets either ‘to’ or ‘on’ were acceptable. Honourable mentions go to Mike Morrison, Jonathan Pettman, Douglas G. Brown, Max Gutmann and Michael Jameson. The winners earn £20 each. W.J. Webster takes £25.

W.J. Webster The sweet disorder of his flaxen mop Seems artificial now, just done for show: His telling feature’s not that cartoon prop But something that lies hidden far below. Though waywardly deployed when he was young The trouble that it caused was brushed aside; For then it seemed that with his silver tongue All consequence could be, with charm, defied.