Writing classes paid off spectacularly for Pamela James (70) when she was voted 2002 UK Poetry Champion.
Pamela's winning poem was inspired by her work with a writers’ circle in her home town of Northampton. A retired secretary, she joined the circle seven years ago and has won several awards since.
Pamela submitted "The Terracotta Pot" for the National Poetry Anthology. "I'm honoured to think that so many prize-winning poets voted for me," said Pamela. She was born in Taplow, Bucks.
Below is Pamela’s winning poem:
THE TERRACOTTA POT
Earth fired,
it holds the heat of Tuscany,
the memory of oil and wine,
a summertime
of silver and of gold.
It holds
a cache of sunflower seeds,
ripe olives
shaken from September trees
on gentle hills.
And deeper still
there lies a wealth of days
and sunshine filtered through
a haze
of happy years.
