Winners 2009 : Second Prize

Iona Twiston-Davies

Matthew Arnold School, Oxford

Grey Mile

It’s like,
There’s this road.
Long, long road.
Dead straight.
And there’s this bike,
With me on it.
And the road is flooded with fog.
And it feels like touchable nothing.
And I can barely see the wheel before my knees,
Let alone the end of the road.
And the trees on either side flicker.
And all is grey.
And doubt sets in,
Like a slow stomach clamp.
And I think,
Why should it ever stop?
Grey road.
Grey legs turning.
Grey breath in the air.
Why shouldn’t it go on and on forever and ever?