Student Poetry Competition 2025 Finalist: The Five Lamp Posts and their Street

The Five Lamp Posts and their Street

by Pratiti Sarker, Glen Waverley Secondary College
Finalist, Years 9 – 10, written poetry

In the midst of the loud silence
the street screamed black,
lying beneath five lamp posts.
Each quite dim alone,
but standing together,
they made the empty street luminous.

They are almost non-existent,
unappreciated,
invisible,
during the day,
when the sun takes over.
Yet the moon cannot compete
For the five lamp posts,
reveal each crack,
each imperfection,
of the street below them.

Later that night,
The workers came to fix the street—
cement in each crack,
new lines in the centre.
The street changed
because of the five lamp posts.

While the street was newly paved,
the five lamp posts gleamed brighter.
Making the stars in the sky disappear.
Making the moon seem inferior.

People walked the street more often—
children would run and skip,
adults would hold hands,
the elderly found comfort in each step.

And though from time to time,
the street lay under snow,
or had chipped paint,
or potholes.
The five lamp posts would let their light swim,
underneath all the flaws,
and beyond,
for everyone to see,
That the street could be loved.

Even on its darkest day,
when the street longed to escape,
into the shadows,
the five lamp posts stood still,
and held onto the street,
unwavering.

The street never found a way to repay,
repay the five lamp posts.
It wondered whether it deserved the light,
or if suddenly one day all the five lamp posts would disappear.
If their lights would stop working,
and never would work again.

Yet years went by,
and the five lamp posts never left.

For ten thousand nights,
through wind and hail,
drought and flood,
they stood together.

The five lamp posts
and 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓street.

Want to read more poems? Explore the other Years 9 – 10 finalists.