Mazal tov to Year 10 student Josie N, whose poem entitled Twelfth Hole was chosen to be published in the Primo Lux poetry anthology, an annual publication featuring creative literature works by skilled young student communicators across WA and supported by WA Poets Inc.

Tasked with writing a poem, the location being somewhere the writer often finds themselves and where 鈥渟omething had to happen鈥�, Josie, a keen golfer, chose her local golf course as her poem鈥檚 setting.

鈥淢y golf course is pretty secluded and private, so I was thinking it would be cool to slip something ominous in there. I鈥檝e left it open-ended, to leave people questioning 鈥榳hy the golf course?鈥�

I didn鈥檛 want to use my bedroom, or somewhere at school, I wanted somewhere a bit different. I鈥檓 the only student in the High School who plays golf, so that seemed like the perfect location.鈥�

Josie says the lack of rhyming and the unpredictable line lengths of her poem are meant to fit in with the ominous undertones of uncertainty that emerge as the poem unfolds, as well as the ultimate surprise at the end, which is also open to interpretation.

Twelfth Hole

Sweat drips from my head

The sun鈥檚 blazing embrace

My bottle dry

My eyes straining

The twelfth hole

I鈥檝e played this hole a hundred times

Maybe a thousand

Slowly back

Shoulders only

Eyes on the ball

Hit through and true

听

The hybrid hits, impacts with the ball

Left it flies

Bush

Searching only adds to the heat and frustration

Found it!

The ball buries itself in the dirt and left-overs of dead trees

Finally,

I can hit again

Adjusting my stance to take the next shot

I glance below my feet

Another face glances back

Life drained from its empty eyes.