JIMBOOMBA bush poet Geraldine King has taken out the top gong at the Ekka this year for an original poem about the trials of parenting.
Ms King won the open original section of the Ekka's bush poetry competition with the piece titled Ode to the Parents.
She said the poem opened in a children's graveyard and tells the story of a father riding through the night to get medicine for his sick children.
"What it's basically saying is how tough it would have been to live many years ago," she said.
Ms King entered the competition last year with a humorous poem but failed to place.
"The poem has to excite the judges I suppose," she said.
"It's pretty subjective."
Ms King said she did not expect to place at the prestigious competition, let alone win.
"When they read out my name I just about fell off my chair," she said.
She said the poem was inspired by a trip to Darwin, where she saw a graveyard full of children and babies.
"I actually had that experience and it was quite emotional, seeing all those little graves," she said.
Ms King also entered the traditional category with a Banjo Paterson poem, The Pearl Diver.
"I absolutely love that poem," she said.
Ms King will be performing and judging the bush poetry at the Logan Village Music and Heritage Festival on September 14.
For more information phone Ms King on 0413 672 218.
