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National Poetry Anthology Winner - 2001

Anne Marsden

Village postmistress Ann Marsden was the 2001 United Press UK Poetry Champion. Ann, from Skelton, Cleveland, won for her poem "Take This Aching Heart".

"I'm overwhelmed that so many prize-winning poets voted for me," she said.

As well as being postmistress in Skelton High Green she's a staff nurse at South Cleveland Hospital.

Ann's winning poem was inspired by personal tragedy. "I've been writing poetry for ten years but entering the National Poetry Anthology has given me my greatest thrill as a writer," she said.

Since its inception in 1999 the National Poetry Anthology has continued to grow; this edition was the first to include the work of poets from Northern Ireland and also the Channel Islands. There was a record number of entries and we were overwhelmed by the sheer variety of work that was submitted for the book. The most popular subject for poets to wax lyrical upon this year was the millennium.

Below is Ann’s winning poem:

TAKE THIS ACHING HEART

Take this aching heart my Lord,
hold it close to thee,
fill it with your love and hope,
then pass it back to me.

Take it to the sun and stars,
when tortured souls are free,
infuse it with your holiness,
then pass it back to me.

Take it to the moon at night,
where angels wish to be,
fill it with resounding good,
then pass it back to me.

Then when this heart stops
beating Lord, and death descends on me,
take me to reside in peace,
eternally with thee.

Ann Marsden, Saltburn, Cleveland