First Place: Andre Surridge

night’s
illuminated manuscript . . .
this waning moon
the first initial
of her name

Second Place: Barbara Strang

magnitude 4.3,
the house timbers
rattle –
a female blackbird stuffs
her beak with twigs

Third place: Helen Yong

twilight
on the silver river
four black swans –
the last night
of my holiday

Highly commended:

Kevin Goldstein-Jackson (UK)

first touch
so tentative
slow
as if I might
break

Elaine Riddell

beach walk
I resolve to bring nothing home
but how can I leave
an orange fan shell
and a curly wentletrap

David Rice (USA)

grandsons
squabbling again
I dismount
show ‘em
my sheriff’s badge

Commended:

Beverley George (Aus)

something
reassuring
about a red bus
on a blue day
its top open to the sky

Tracy Davidson (UK)

my apple tree
shares its rosy fruit
with our neighbours
heedless
of boundary disputes

Barbara Strang (NZ)

post quake,
out with the neighbours
at five am,
pavement still quivering . . .
this clarity of stars