Blond ambition

In Competition No. 2508 you were invited to submit an acrostic poem in support of Boris Johnson’s bid to become Mayor of London, in which the first letters of each line spell out BORIS FOR MAYOR.

In Competition No. 2508 you were invited to submit an acrostic poem in support of Boris Johnson’s bid to become Mayor of London, in which the first letters of each line spell out BORIS FOR MAYOR. There was an avalanche of entries of a variable standard. Predictably, Boris’s flaxen locks featured strongly — as did his mighty intellect. Equally celebrated were his plain speaking and joie de vivre, many of you echoing D.J. Taylor, writing in ES Magazine: ‘If I had a vote in the mayoral elections, I think I’d cast it for Boris on the Gaiety of Nations principle.’ A lone voice of dissent came from Moyra Blyth, who, though the brief asked for poems in support of BJ’s campaign, couldn’t resist chipping in: ‘Boris for Mayor? You must be joking, chum!/ Or is it that your brain needs to be tested?/ Road rage, perhaps, has rendered it congested…’. There was room for an extra winner this week, so it’s £20 each; £25 to W.J. Webster.

Beyond a dim and pink-eyed ken
Our Boris is the rising star,
Renaissance man whose fluent pen
Impugns with wit the way things are.
Strong in his views but dogma-free,
Found fearless in the cause of truth,
Outspoken when he needs to be,
Rejoicing in the verve of youth.
Multicultured in his genes,
And cosmopolitan by choice,
Yet steeped in history he means
Old London, too, should have its voice.
Roll on the day to vote BJ!
W.J. Webster

Bicycling beau with a touch of panache,
On he proceeds with precision and dash;
Resolute fighter with locks streaming free
Is there a better contestant than he?
Shame on the sillies who settle for Ken,
Fortune accords you the smartest of men;
Only the fainthearts and foolish would find
Rollicking Boris the second-rate kind.