Uttryck Magazine held a poetry contest during Winter 2024, with War & Peace as the competition’s theme. Among many other, three candidates distinguished themselves — you can enjoy their pieces hereafter! The winning poem has been printed in the issue of March and read on Radio UF.
#3 Youthful Echoes
Faith Tonui
Navigating Sub-Saharan Challenges with Hope
In Sub-Saharan lands, where turmoil reigns,
Conflict echoes with haunting strains.
Crisis, a tale of despair,
And recurring unrest, a heavy air.
Yet amidst the chaos, a glimmering light,
Youthful voices rise, shining bright.
In deserts, where tribesmen lay,
Seeds of peace take root, day by day.
In the heart of darkness, where suffering abounds,
Hope springs eternal, as youth resounds
With resilience and courage, echoing loud,
As young hearts rise, against the shroud.
In the shadow of recurring turmoil, strife,
A cry for peace, led by youthful life.
For in every heart, a longing resides,
For a future where peace abides.
So let us join hands, in solidarity,
With the youth, fostering clarity.
For in the face of conflict, let us strive,
Guided by the youth, where hope will thrive.
#2 Upon the Day and Night
Robert Andersson
Upon a sunny day in spring,
The wind had taken pause
To let the leaves be silent,
In respect for the casket march
A single bird saluted,
The procession as it went
It was a celebration,
To a life that now was spent
It was a day of tears and joy,
For the humans taking part
With plenty of time for memories,
And for relations to re-start
It was a Death that had occurred,
But it was a Death in peace
And such a Death, albeit with tears,
Can sometimes be at ease
Upon the darkest night in fall,
The air compact by sounds
A group of kids kept digging,
Haunted as by hounds
Battered their hearts became,
By all the bags they did see fall
With no time for grief or pray,
Pointless was it all
It was a night of emptiness,
There were no words to say
Friend after friend, lost for no reason,
No tear could make them stay
It was Deaths that had occurred,
But these were Deaths of war
No singing bird and no procession,
But sorrow all the more
#1 Love and Anarchy
Kaaviya Balakrishnan
Our sorrow is older
Than our hope.
And about all that,
Our despair would know.
Love – a luxury
In the midst of war,
As the blood we drip
Turns lustrous gold.
The agony buried
Deep beneath our rib
Aches, as flowers bloom
From the dead of our skin.
We watch in silence
As our core shifts –
Words refuse to linger
In the air any longer.
Dysphoria breeds
In the trenches
Of our stomach.
What is the incentive
To breaking our own bones
And crying misery?
Loathing, as we hide
Within soliloquies.
And every now and then,
Anchoring guilt in our chest,
We let the sweet hum
Of the dying light
Cradle us to sleep.
We know now –
This war was never meant
For soldiers who bleed.
Nonetheless, the prairie –
Now soaked scarlet,
Awaits it’s new queen.
Cover: Pixabay
