The Competition by Karen Hendriks

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The Competition

One day when you least expect to succeed.

Be brave enough to have a go.

With rocks weighing down your chest,

and bile in your throat.

They think you can’t do it.

They wait to laugh,

because they think you’ll fail.

Take a deep breath and dig in deep.

Don’t let the mind speak stop you.

 

Your skin is pale and clammy,

your eyes blink in the blinding light,

you’re feeling overwhelmed

by the thunderous clapping and pressure to perform.

Your nauseous tummy rolls,

you suck in some air.

You’re feeling quite unwell.

As the camera pans in close,

you know you’ve got this.

 

For after twenty meat pies

You’ve won.

Karen Hendriks

High Achievers by Kate O’Neil

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High Achievers

 

We thought we could. ..

We said we would

go on the climb

to Mount Sublime

and we did it!

Yes! We did it!

We got to the top! We did it!

 

They said it was impossible.

They said we wouldn’t last.

They said it was a grown-ups’ walk

and grown-ups walk too fast.

They said you must be big and strong—

The path is very steep

and you have to cross some channels where

the water’s very deep.

They said the climb is difficult

and we’re not old enough

to know you just keep going when

the going’s really tough.

They said there could be leeches and

creepy crawly things

and real explorers don’t complain

of scratches, bites and stings.

They thought we wouldn’t make it but

they let us go along

and we showed them, yes we showed them they

were wrong! wrong! wrong!

 

© Kate O’Neil