Leonardo 2012: Hide and Seek

Imogen Davies won the Year 8 Leonardo Prize on Wednesday, 27 June, for her poem, Hide and Seek.

Laughter bounces off the walls,

The eliminating sun smiles down on us,

Counting, running, finding,

A childhood memory embedded in my mind.

Seeking out the right spot,

Opening closets,

The kitchen pantry,

Empty and cold.

As black darkness spills out,

I secretly slide behind the pillars of food,

And slowly shut the door …

The dark starts to strip me of my senses,

Strangling me in the cold.

I don’t want to hide here anymore.

Struggling with the door:

No escape, stuck and alone.

I hear them all scamper past

As I helplessly bang on the door.

Fear engulfs me.

All I can do is lie here.

Time freezes.

Nothing moves.

An unchanging world.

No rules, regulations or requirements.

Only darkness and the unseen.

And then a voice!

The door handle bursts into life.

Blinded by a sudden overwhelming light,

And a shout:

“I found you!”