News

High School Category - Third place

22 October 2025

Drought by Ava Kalogeropoulos

It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

Dry rivers in cracked dirt form snakes that hunt for water

Skeletal trees dance mournfully

Stripped of their leaves, their clothes

Clouds absent from the happy blue sky

Chased away by the bright yellow orb that is the sun

Unfurling its unwelcomed warmth upon our town

It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

I don’t think it will ever rain again


It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

The crops lay lifeless and lonely

The ground dry as the dessert

The tears of the people the only water that remains

Money low and prices high

Showers a treat

Something to look forward to

Warmth smothering our town like a blanket

Trapping the heat but blocking out the light

It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

I don’t think it will ever rain again


It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

Dams and rivers just empty holes in the ground

Animals lay on the parched yellow grass

Heads laying limp

Eyes closed

Dreaming of rushing streams and gushing falls

Weather people on TV

Desperately grasping at small promises of humidity

The unsure whispers that soon rain will fall

And the promise of rain the greatest promise of all

It hasn’t rained now for almost six months

I hope that it will rain again