During Discovery Week, students in English composed forest poems which were entered in the Red Room Competition. With every poem entry, the organisation plants a tree. Students also installed their poetry in some way around the school – either chalk, liquid chalk, paper plant flowers in the grounds, or hung from trees. The focus for the poems was ‘place’ and nature’. The students also learnt to receite the famous war memorial poem In Flanders Field by heart. It was a fantastic week of poetry and community. Below is a sample of poems entered into the competition.
Australian Rock Pools
The ruff, gentle touch that connects all of us,
One dive of the fresh, salty, Australian water traps you and makes you want to never get out.
I slowly, swim through the magical marine life,
Seeing fishy friends and orange octopuses.
If this isn’t heaven, I don’t know what is.
I explore further then ‘Splash Kaboom’ my sister is in.
On the saddest days it can make you have the biggest smile,
I go under the water and hear the fairies dancing on top.
My connection is so dearly strong to the land,
Mermaid or not I love the salty touch,
Water baby through my veins.
My happy place where I go,
Everyone and any one is welcome,
To come feel this new and amazing feeling.
Sunshine, Love, Country what more do I need?
Olivia :: Year 7
Above and beneath the Peppy tree
In Grammar’s Garden the peppies grow
between the weeds; row on row,
that mark our place: And in the ground.
The worms slither round and round
in the grass you can hear the tweet
of the small little green parakeet
as you look out at the tree
you will soon see
the patchy brown bark peel
making you do a small kneel.
In the distance you will hear the dripping
of the rusty ripping pipe
as the sun starts to spin
it will start to put a smile on your chin.
As I look down, I can see the moss,
shine on the red brick gloss.
Flynn :: Year 8
| Birds watching, Swooping.
Kookaburra eating worms. Flaps, and flies high Mia :: Year 8 |
Dew dripping slowly
Birds singing so quietly, Leaves falling gently Guy :: Year 8 |
The Peppermint tree
Long droopy leaves fall
Between the winding branches
Smells of peppermint trees
Alby :: Year 8
Trees
Look up and see the sky,
Look up and see the trees
They give life
And reason to live
Alive
Green
look after them
appreciate them
In winter they are green
And alive
In summer leaves are dry
in autumn leaves fall
we love trees
Zara :: Year 8
Trees are life
A habitat, a home, a heart,
The leaves blow from side to side,
The bark, the skin, the trunk, the spine,
Trees are life
Squawk, the birds sing in joy,
The tree is a home to all animals, big and small,
Without it many would be homeless,
Trees are life
You can hear the trees call:
Don’t cut me down, leave me be
I’m just a tall and lonely tree
It’s like a person about to die,
Tears of sap roll down its face,
If this tree goes, nothing can replace:
An animal’s home, a source of life, no air left to breath
Trees are life
So don’t cut down trees,
Just let them be
Unless you and the world want to die,
Trees are life
Rosie :: Year 8
Milla :: Year 7
| Dragonflies are cool
Beautiful Hunter Killers Speeding Vicious Death Ned:: Year 7 |
I live in a hollow.
And chase others who care to follow. I’m striped as can be. Where I’m from it’s hard to find a tree. All I see is bushes and shrubs. And I hunt on young cubs Max :: Year 7 |
Time Takes All
Time takes all,
The trees that whisper in the wind,
The leaves that crunch under foot,
Turning green into grey,
Time watches as they all decay.
The circle of life will complete,
And again and again it will repeat,
The trees that grow so tall,
Turn into ash as fire roars,
Feeding saplings into trees,
Flower’s nectar for the bees.
The age-old knowledge,
Spoken through the times,
For there to be Life,
There must be Death.
Jasmin :: Year 7
A life begins
A life begins
the leaves are new,
people grow
and trees do too.
Work builds up
as days go by,
stress enlarging
going sky high.
As they age
the leaves grow brown,
getting older each day
the leaves fall down.
Sitting alone
peeling bark,
a special spark
stuck in your heart.
The clock rewinds
the Big Ben chimes,
the tree is worn
another is born.
Hannah H :: Year 7
| I’m sunset orange,
and I have scales and no legs, I slither around Ian :: Year 7 |
A fat little pigeon
Your feathers glossy in the sun You sound so beautiful: but You’re looking for a hunt Noah :: Year 7 |
The playful beams dance across the water
so calm it makes me free
I sit here fishing with my daughter.
The ocean washes over me
I watch the waves become dark blue
As our fingers start to wrinkle
The waves start to rumble
And my worries wash away
The fear slowly crumbles
