DARK POETS PRIZE IV- 2026

I am honoured to have received an honourable mention for my poem ’On Sin'...

On Sin

Daily deeds in self-defence have this perfect

symmetry: they mirror what has been

done and demand penitence

where it is due. No sin and no surrender.

What acts our own, which the harvest of persuasion?

Guiltless by birth, we are born of old and if

we are guilty of any sin, it is uniquely

the oldest sin of all: I will not be bound.

We sin for others, bear others’ sins, and each event

is judged on its own failings: do we

transgress, then, when we say

random waves

erasing our bodily impressions on the sand, or

nothing meaningful endures beyond tactile exploration, or

only a brief, exhilarating time

was granted to you and me?

How can keeping vigil be a sin?

Tell me: is the morning sun a sin, the tranquil

sea, even the petals of the flower or the branches

of the tree?

©isabeldelrio2026