Winner - RAF's Poetry Competition 2026
Life is a race...you're in it to win it!
Brenda Maritim (Kenya)
Born in the village
But born with courage
Life wasn't really fair
But you didn't wallow in despair
You have gifted feet
You were meant to be an Athlete
To change the script from: Run for your life
To: Run, and laugh, To the bank
Who knew Climbing mountains
Would lead to your lucky fountain
Life had always felt like one battle after another, uphill
But you were meant to get relief through your skill
The lucky aspect of being able to acclimatize
Would help you live the life you always romanticized
Your grit and endurance are a gift, you realize
The young man or woman from the small town
Now wearing their crown
From once living in pandemonium
To now owning your place on the podium
No more living in destitution
Your life is one big transformation
Thanks to knowing that sitting on your talent is not an option
And you bring pride to your home and nation
Your path: you were meant to embrace
Your steps: you were go at your pace
Your future: you were to bravely face
It's yours to win, this race
Life is a race
Yours is a run to a better future
You are in it to win it!
On your marks, set, go!
Winners for RAF's Poetry Competition 2022
Fole Nyodee
Nigeria
First Place
Prodigal, They Are!
There, we once had a treaty.
... yes, there was a beauty.
With the fresh air to breath,
In her majesty, the sea and the deep,
Ocean was her name,
and the rivers were her offspring.
The sea bringing forth her siblings.
Marine life was filled with ecstasy.
True we once heard the story.
... yes, how the thorns striked!
The oil industry was booming,
Civilization was the price,
Pollutions her accomplice,
Modernity bringing about mortality.
And tragedy, like darkness,
The cold moments wiped.
True and bravely these sorrowful words are,
Yes, muttering breaths from a dying one
... ones whose life was taken,
The pure ocean was never in vain ...
Man’s greed has worn a crown,
And it is watching my siblings going down
And one by one, like vapours going to the sky.
True, men are prodigal,
... for they forget where they come from.
Man now exists, and forget others crave peace.
Though hidden in a different world,
Marine lives are still in it,
Though hidden in the far deep,
The earth won’t split into six!
They have eyes to see, but they are filled
With their greed,
They have eyes to see,
But they would only see with their teeth.
Men are prodigal,
... for they say we have advanced methods,
Plastics have become their possession,
No more safe leisurely ocean swim,
Because of their exploit patterns,
Pollution is sending quick grieve,
Corals were their oxygens,
But they are too blind to see.
Prodigal, they are,
... for the net is no longer enough,
But sounds and explosives must now come along,
Look and plunder, they echo amassed,
Exploring the minerals beneath without remorse.
Ohh let the wise one look,
... soon the prodigals would learn,
Soon they would then learn, when mother ocean sends
Her friends.
Recovering her boundaries, she mourns her lost sons,
Bringing a thousand floods on,
Are their lives worth that much?
Their oxygen may lack and food supplies
May run.
Let the prodigals know, marine lives matter that much
Like man’s cities, we too must live in peace.
Prodigal they would be,
if these words they would spite
....exhale
Reea Nilamber
Mauritius
Second Place
Save Marine Lives!
Dead dolphin on the shore,
Happy human with a plastic straw.
Observe the ocean,
Full of pollution,
Where is its solution?
Poseidon tried to protect,
Mother nature had a project,
But humans destroyed it all!
Can’t trust humans anymore,
Humanity is now folklore.
The ocean is not a trash can,
The animals there have a lifespan.
Sadness, sorrow, this dolphin suffered,
Sumptuous, serene, humans have smeared!
Want to be part of the solution?
Then stop the pollution!
This dolphin is not an engine,
The marine creatures are not machines!
Want to be part of the win?
Then cut in,
Pollution is not protein!
Change the bulletin,
And you will win!
Charlie Meyer
South Africa
Third Place
Waters Rising
How are we meant to live our lives
Knowing without them we won’t survive
We take their homes
And kill their Neighbors
Just to feed the entire nation
The ocean is under attack
By the plastics we can’t take back
Waters are rising
Fish are dying
But you don’t see all of us trying
The rumors are true
Our oceans are no longer blue
It’s a horror for us
All these mistakes we must live up to
We’ve ignored the specialists
Continued our lives
Until we see them dead
That’s when we cry
We must answer their call
To save them all
To do our part
And save our oceans Heart