COMPETITION I NI Competition No. 1476 you were Invited to

write a birthday poem for a Young girl born in June. I took a risk. Sentiment is feeling, but `sentimental' was defined by Sterne as `blubbering over a dead donkey'. Not all of you walked the right side of the line, th°udgh I was impressed by some of the har-boiled professionals who managed, almost against nature, to turn the egg back to soft. Matthew Prior and other 18th- century minor poets would have done this Sto perfection. In our century James Mmons, the fine Northern Irish poet, succeeded too: aor every year of life we light

candle on your cake

to mark the simple sort of progress

anYone can make, and then, to test your nerve or give a proper view of death, you're asked to blow each light, each year, out with your own breath.

The winners, who stood out well from the runners-up (K. Roken, Roger Woddis, Katie Mallett, Paul Griffin and 0. Smith) get £15 apiece, and the bonus bottle of 904 Gran Riserva from La Rioja Alta, the gift

A touch of sentiment

Jaspistos

of Mr David Balls of Wines from Spain, belongs to Andrew McEvoy.

Upon the eighteenth day of June, Though thitherto defeat-immune, Napoleon met his Waterloo.

I, crystal-gazing, ask if you, A sharer in that signal date, Will also prove the blitzing fate

Of one who usually conquers—

With Beauty's weapons drive him honkers?

Your dazzling mother (can't forget her), The very instant that I met her, Bombarded my bewildered senses, Scattered all my scant defences.

Must you also grow to be a Veritable Boadicea?

Elect to be a gentler queen: Be generous — be Josephine. (Andrew McEvoy) On this your anniversary With daisies may your way be strewn And blossoms burst on every tree To greet a lady born in June.

May all your Junes be favoured so, With punts and parasols and honey, And smooth young men with eyes aglow. May they have lots and lots of money.

May your examiners be kind (For June's the month of inquisition), And all their questions be confined Within the previous night's revision.

And, that this day might crystallise A little taste of life's perfections, May you have always cloudless skies And not too many June elections. (Noel Petty) Today you are five. Everything's at its best: The roses are out and the trees are full-dressed, A blackbird rejoices and woodpigeons coo, And we are assembled to celebrate you.

All eager you move in your new summer dress From one to another, from kiss to caress, And uncles and grandmothers smile at the sight As you open your presents with urgent delight.

You run down the lawn when you see me come out And throw yourself into my arms with a shout

And kiss me and hug me as tight as you can As though I were all you could want in a man.

Dear Emma, may blessings like summery rain Fall gently on you. May June come again Before you cast innocence off like a skin And the bitter-sweet learning and yearning begin. (Barney Blackley) You have arrived in June, the month that rhymes With countless hackneyed words. Well, never mind.

And never mind that you've been born when times Are hard and drained of hope. One day you'll find

That summer grants its children special grace, A heart's trick. You, dear girl, will slowly grow To populate a fresh, vivacious space; You'll charm fools into circles. Do you know

Why red-tinged daisies in the meadows strike The casual walker's eye? They have the bloom Of summer's violent sunsets, scarlet like The hue of love. Ahead, dear girl, there loom For you such lavish multitudes of joy That you will stop and wonder. When you choose To hand your heart to some fond, gaping boy, Be kind, be careful: no one could refuse.

(Basil Ransome-Davies) With all our Members now selected, You to Life are new-elected; But never will behave, I pray, As unappealingly as they.

As the year attains its centre, Let no frets or rancours enter Your hopeful keep; but let there come A laughing equilibrium.

`Balmy' is the word we tune Traditionally to airs in June; But spell it sometimes 'barmy' too— Occasional quirks are good for you.

The morning brightens, calm and warm: Its understated English charm Disarms and quietens — may you be