“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words”-  Robert Frost
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words” – Edgar Allen Poe

Recently, Year 10 English students practised and crafted their writing skills in class.  Students explored a variety of different text types, forms and features developing an array of writing skills.  Many students experimented with poetic structure and form and used a stimulus as a ‘starting point’ for their writing.  Please enjoy these poems from students

Camping

The way the trees swayed with the wind,
How the open-air grinned,
The smell of campfire smoke-stained gear,
The darkness like a blanket in the atmosphere.
Having to use the bathroom in the dark,
My sisters and I, on an adventure we’d embark.

Chuckling and snickers, secrets, and fears,
Murmurs in the tent unite us through the years.
Stories being shared,
A night in the city couldn't be compared.
Waking up to the fire and breakfast being made,
These memories of family can never fade.

Karma-Anne Van Der Merwe

One Heart

Our entire lives,
We spend living, breathing, crying, dying.
One person’s life, death, rebirth.
Their trauma, their laughter, their memories,
Of living here on this earth. 

Whilst another lives and grows, blooming like a singular flower in a lonely garden,
Their lonely heart is empty, whilst their mind blows along,
They’re hoping, wishing, dreaming to belong.
Here, they journey, under the sun.
Until the day, not only themselves,
But society will realise we are all one. 

In their mind, they take a look around,
Only to see nothing but a blank void.
They then turn back, to hear a sound,
A collective beating of many drums,
Their mind blank,
Trying to place the familiar thrums,
Of seven billion hearts, each beating as one. 

We are not separate entities.
Divided by flags, nations, and colour,
But a collective union of billions,
Attempting to create a portrayal of one another.
Soon, they realise that they are not alone,
As there are thousands of others out there,
who love them; who need them; who are human; who are just like them. 

They are not destined to be alone, upset and disconnected,
They are like birds, destined to be free content, happy, and full of all the carefree joys,
That life on earth has to offer,
Whether or not the amount of money saved in their coffers,
The tones of skin or the religion they follow,
They begin to realise; all deserve to see tomorrow. 

Rachel Gay

Food Festival

Markets bustled with excited bodies,
Shuffling around each other like pieces in a puzzle looking for a place to fit.
A wave of spice and cooked meat filled the air,
People danced around the stalls,
Almost in sync with each other,
Fresh cooked kebabs twirled as graceful as ballerinas on a stage,
Kids darted from stall to stall stuffing their faces full of sweets,
The air bubbled with flavours of candy, meat, and coffee.
People yelled and laughed the noise filling the air,
Excitement showed on everyone’s faces.

I walked around weaving in between stalls,
Gazing at the food in each one,
Delicious delights being bought by others.
A stall caught my attention, sweet treats being served,
A Dutch pancake stand I spotted in the far,
Tiny hot delight covered in a cloud like icing sugar, drizzled with chocolate,
People consumed by their taste,
Sweet, sparkling, smiles on each face.
I stroll over to the stall and obtain one for my own,
The batter poured into the steaming pan,
Flipped over with a skewer, the other side golden brown,
I waited, soon I will obtain them,
People picked them up and put them in a paper bowl.
Drizzled with chocolate sauce, sprinkled with icing sugar.
I savoured each bit, grinning wider with each bite,
Glee flowed through me this was true happiness.

As the sun fell behind the buildings and the sky when dark,
The market went quiet,
People walked home, stalls packed up,
Air still filled with excitement from the day radiating on everyone,
People now slowly walked around some just strolling through the empty space,
The stars being the only light source sparkling like the smiles of the day,
I sat on the grass looking up at the sky,
It was magnificent like the day I just had.

Ella Parvin

Winter

Melancholy hit me like a ton of bricks.
Death comes to the final leaves that fall from twisted branches,
I feel as if a part of me goes with them.
The days are getting shorter,
The nights longer.

The garden covered in a blanket of frost,
Nothing but white, blue and brown.
Smoke fills the ice-cold air,
A distinct smell that will never leave.
Not a single plant or flower in sight
Or life of any kind;
No distant laughter or singing birds-
I’ve never heard silence quite this loud.

Inside, I sink into the crisp chair,
Before me a blazing fire.
It’s just me
And my thoughts.
Longing for Summer to come back
Instead of the cold and the boredom,
A day at the beach filled with fun and laughter
Is that too much to ask for?

I envisage a time,
Dancing in the pouring summer rain
So carefree.
Unfazed that time will never stop

But that’s not real.
And as time fades;
Unbeknownst to us
Our memories fade with it.

Chelsea Atkins

We are Free

Ow, ahh, ow.
The prick of a needle is never pleasant.
People cry, this time not in sadness but relief.
Pfizer is being made by the dozen.
Shipped by the dozen.
Injected by the dozen.
42,000,000 people have been given a second chance; a chance to survive.

New Delhi is starting over
India is starting over.
Restrictions are lifting.
Hope is rising again.
People are trusting again.
They are letting their guard down again.
The band aid is being ripped off.
We can go back to Australia soon.
It is safe.

Masks are lowered below the nose, smiles are creeping in.
Society is blooming again.
Society will never be the same but at least it is not broken.
Friendships are being made; new people are met.
The matrimony of continents is breathtaking.

The sun is out.
We are out.
We are not confined.
We will not forever be confined.
We are free.
We are forever free and that what it will forever be.

Georgia Capes

Jamaya Pearse
English Teacher