Year 8 have been writing about their lockdown experience using the stimulus of Amaani Khan’s poem (a 17 year old student) to help frame their ‘new normal’.
The stimulus was provided by our own Poet in Residence, Tara Arkle, and it begins like this: In the last week I’ve noticed how large bees can be. So large they’ve made their way into my dreams at night.
Below are some of the student's pieces;
My Lockdown Poem
Stay at Home, Stay Safe is the message we hear each day,
There is an unseen virus lurking around, let's keep it at bay.
Our daily routines have been affected, it has taken time to adjust,
It's killing many people, business have gone bust.
We can walk the empty streets that are within our gates,
Greet friends and neighbours, who may not be our best mates.
But it's interesting how people's lives can be,
When you take time to talk and share.
Inside the house is polished and the furniture dusted and glows,
The garden is weed-free, cupboards rearrange, items in a row.
Old receipts and papers sorted and committed to the bins,
With so much time to spare each day, where do we begin?
Be thankful for our homes, our families and friends,
What is happening around the world is hard to comprehend.
Our village life-style and all it offers gives us a feeling of security,
And we will adjust to these difficult times because of our maturity.
Someday this all will end.
DS
Watching Flowers Grow
My home is now a cage,
Where time seems to wait,
For something unknown,
For an untold date.
The birds fly outside,
Up in the sky,
I watch them soar,
With a sadness in my eye.
I miss the freedom,
Which used to be mine,
Now I just sit indoors,
Come rain or shine.
I didn't appreciate,
Freedom back then,
Now I would do anything,
To have it again.
I miss my friends,
Their laughs, their smiles.
To see them once more,
I would walk for miles.
Our memories together,
Fun times with them,
The thoughts stored away,
Like a precious gem.
Everything has changed,
Before I can blink.
And I ask myself,
Are we on the brink?
Do we have a future,
And what does it hold?
What will we see,
When we grow old?
Will things ever be the same?
That's all I want to know,
As I sit by the window,
Watching flowers grow.
JC
In the last week
In the last week
I’ve noticed how soft silence is
The empty roads
The solemn trees
How the quiet hum of a heater
Gives a warm feeling inside
Almost sweetly cosy
With a hot cup of tea
But silence can dull
And free feelings can turn
To simple memories
Stacked in a phone
The smell of baked muffins
Just isn’t quite the same
When your all alone
With two brothers that are inane
But I love them really
Just too tough to show
I’m fine alone he said
But with a look deep in his eyes
Once a blank canvas
Now full of colour
But behind those colours
Is a hint of black and white
DW
Lockdown the highs and the lows
I'm wasting away under the light,
I stay fatigue from day to night,
I wake up and then go back to bed,
Say to myself I'll rest my head,
My mind is blank but yet so full,
It feels asleep but it will push and pull,
About things I've forgot like the light of day,
I hope this virus will cease to stay,
Although it seems once in a while,
I may even crack a smile,
When I see the green of the leaves and tree,
I see them when I walk alone with me,