2016-17 Paul Henningham Award Winner

06 May 2017

We are delighted to announce the winner of the Paul Henningham Award for Literary Excellence: Anna Hamers from Hallidays Point Probus Club. Here, she shares the story of her childhood in the Netherlands.

Burning bridges

I’m a child of a flat, green country,

Surrounded by water and crowned with low skies,

Where in autumn the leaves are the colours of Rembrandt,

Where in wintry fog every single sound dies.

I still see myself as a child picking daisies,

I still see myself go to school on my bike

In the strong winds that seem to be always against me.

And in summer I walked with my love on the dike.

I will always remember my sweet little country

As it was in the days when I was still young.

My country that gave me a feeling of comfort,

A feeling that said: here is where you belong.

The meadows have gone, and so have the daisies.

There's houses and highways, it’s progress, you know.

And the fog is now caused by boxes on wheels;

They have come a long way and got nowhere to go.

The street where I lived and that once was my playground

Is now the domain of McDonalds and Co,

Crowded with people from faraway places.

There's no quiet dikes now for lovers to go.

I will always remember my sweet little country,

But it's different now from when I was young.

So I burnt all my bridges in crossing the ocean

To this wonderful country that says, ‘you belong’.

Pictured: Anna Hamers receiving her award which is presented by PSPL Director Eric Penfold.