Year eight Beaconsfield High Student Naureen Hassan has had her poem ‘Underground’ shortlisted for the John Betjeman Poetry Prize and will have her work published in an anthology along with the 50 other shortlisted poems.

Naureen could now be selected as a finalist and in with a chance to win the prize, which asked children aged ten to 13 to write a poem on the theme ‘place’.

The High School’s 'Getting Life Ready' programme encourages students to think creatively, something which Naureen has excelled in, having already had a short story published in ‘Crazy Creatures from the Home Counties’ as part of a young writer’s competition.

Her poem ‘Underground’ discusses pollution, litter, and plastic waste as Naureen loves the environment but is aware of its current deterioration.

Naureen has said: “I love writing poetry because you don’t have to write pages and pages to get your point across.” and expressed how delighted her mum and friends are that she’s been shortlisted.

Read the poem below:

I enter the land of the Underground,

Different from most other.

Greetings from the buzzed sound

Cries from the stress and bother.

I enter the land of the Underground,

Smokers puff intruding air,

Wails from children, buggies bound.

The Snide glances, stranger’s stare.

Whining whistle of the entrance,

Colossal ants barging in.

Passing faces, marks of tension,

Heaps of litter, crumbling bins. Flock of pigeons trailing crowds,

Cowardice to the slightest sound,

Nibbling weathered plastic crust,

Human life’s only trust.

I enter the land of the Underground,

Different from most other.

Greetings from the buzzed sound,

Cries from the stress and bother.