WritoryWRITORYWrite Your Own Victory

National Honour · August 2026

🇨🇦

Casey Shelley

🇨🇦 Canada · leading poet of the nation's field


“Quickening”

70out of 100
Creativity18/25
Emotional Impact19/25
Structure14/20
Language15/20
Theme10/10

Two little lines make you mine: already, running out of time. Pink or blue who are you? A million second-hand shoes try to make it true. Not a mother then, a flutter. No sign of red: full speed ahead. It’s one last chance or cancelled plans. It’s dark, quiet rooms: all eyes on you. Balloons, ribbons, and bows: a model posing for the show. Showered by a sea of should, just like her I wish I could. Minutes fly, it’s time to go: together, trekked the rugged road. Fluorescent lights and one last push: a love straight from a storybook.

From the judges

A nimble, emotionally honest pregnancy sequence with inventive shorthand imagery, slightly let down by a conventional ending and uneven rhythm.

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Casey Shelley retains all rights · published with the poet's byline as a National Honour