In late 2019, working with Coventry Cathedral and Coventry and Warwickshire Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACRE), we invited children aged 16 or younger who live or attend school in Coventry or Warwickshire to submit a poem on the theme of peace and/or human rights.

Our judges Craig Muir, Emilie Lauren Jones, Kathryn Fleming and Manjit Kaur said “there was a great selection of poems and it is good to know that the future of poetry in our area is in good hands!”

It was very difficult to choose the best poem but finally they picked “What is Peace?” by Salem Merhawi aged 8 and “Knife Crime” by Maille O’Toole aged 11 as joint winners.

Here are their poems:

Salem Merhawi

What is Peace?

by Salem Merhawi, Holbrook Primary School

Peace feels like a leaf falling on me.
Peace makes me feel at home.
Peace is my friend when I am lonely.
Peace is a tree being saved from a chainsaw.
Peace is not having violence in the world.
Peace feels like a friend comforting you when you are sad.
Peace is a flower opening and the petal is shared with everyone.
Peace gives the ocean a colour like no other.
Peace is a song that brightens up your day.

Peace begins with saying sorry.
Peace begins with not hurting others.
Peace begins with honesty and trust.
Peace begins with showing cooperation and respect –
World peace begins with ME!

Maillie O’Toole

Knife Crime

by Maille O’Toole, Cardinal Newman Catholic School

We are humans and we have the right,
But people are dying every night.
It could be your life,
Stopped all because of a knife.
It could be any of us.
Just because people think that they must
Carry around a knife;
But then they end up taking a life.

It could be any of us.
Just in a silly fight,
But it turns into a fight for life,
All because of a stupid knife.

We are humans and we have the right,
But people are dying every night.
It could be your life,
Stopped all because of a knife.

Their poems and all the others submitted to the competition are included in the book we have now published:

Coventry & Warwickshire Children’s Peace Poems 2020

It is available as a paperback or a PDF from our online store.