Each year, pupils from Years 7-10 enter the Leonardo Poetry competition. This year's theme was 'Human Rights'. The winning poems are presented below:
You
Come From by Dulcie Langley (Year 7)
You
come from faded clothes and fading hope
Worn
thin soled sandals treading over a dusty,
Desolate
landscape.
Ragged
tents that bear the scars of countless
Batterin'g
explosions.
You
come from experiences beyond your years
That
have etched themselves upon your sunken face
Chiselled
cheekbones and deep unfathomable
Brown
eyes that yearn for security and peace.
You
come from strict regulations and regimes
Robotic
people who hold no personality despite their pain
Stripped
of their identities by hatred’s merciless hands.
You
come from aching stomachs and aching hearts
An
unspoken fear of growm’g to care
For
those who suffer alongside you
Too
vulnerable to offer yourself
To
emotion's powerful clutches
Lest
they disappear.
All
you desire is to speak out
To
voice your frustrations
Have
the chance to succeed
But
your hopes and ambitions for the future are
Discarded
by those who hold your happiness
Hostage.
You
are told you do not matter
That
your characteristics are worthless
Should
be forgotten.
Yet
you come from the invaluable love of a family
Each
hug and kind gesture provides your heart a beat
For
without these guiding lights in your day
Your
purpose would slip into the surrounding darkness.
Life
by John Yu (Year 8)
Life
is the water and we are the animals,
It
comes and goes like a bright running stream,
Yet we
try to catch it and desperately hold on,
Urged
to embrace it till the ends of time,
As it
runs through our fingertips and flows beyond.
Some
refuse to drink from it yet others cannot,
Their
chance stolen by those who attack and prey
Yet
all cannot drink more than their share
And
watch in vain as their life continues to flow
To infinity and the darkness beyond.
Protected
and treasured, the most holiest of waters
Hated
yet loved, denied yet accepted,
Though
blockaded with dams to hinder its progress
As we
try to drink it to our desire
We
continue oppressed as it flows past our eyes.
The
stream of liberty, the stream of salvation,
Unhindered
by custody or the restraints of laws,
Fragile
compared with the elements of hardship
Yet it
becomes a part of all of us, of security and peace
Its
beauty unblemished by the hardships it suffers.
The
thing we crave so hard to find,
The
one thing that we cannot afford to lose
Valued
and kept so dear in our hearts:
It is
life - the symbol of freedom
It is
life - the only one
It is
life - the protected and endangered
It is
life - the dearest of all.
So Far
by Charlotte Allen (Year 9)
Eyes
wide staring -
Vacant,
listless bearing
the
crushing. careless wordsSpoken by hawk-like birds.
They
claw, thrash, shriek
Repeating
“You're a
freak.”
They
tower over ever tall.
I cry
a futile, desperate call.
Like
snakes they strike
Oblivious
that we're alike
Yet we
are, we are
A
sleeve for a scar
A mask
for a mar
Why
must distance be so far?
Insomnia
haunts by night
Unshed
tears obscured by dim light,
Lost
and lonesome wanderer
I am
but an unspoken ponderer.
My
path is unclear
Forlorn
like a deer.
Clutch
at wavering trust
Faceless,
dull as ashes and dust.
Like
snakes they strike
Can
they not see we’re alike?
But we
are, we are
A
sleeve for a scar
A mask
for a mar
Why
must distance be so far?
My
world filled by tones of grey.
Endless.
always, every day.
My
limitless star-infested sky.
Lonely
comfort, content sigh.
Floating
as a silver ghost,
Paler, sickiier than most.
Blue
tinted quivering lips.
l fade
away to horizons like ships.
Like
snakes they strike
Knowing
we're alike,
But
they know, they know,
A
sleeve for a scar.
A mask
for a mar,
So why
is distance still so far?
They Called Us Half-Caste by Eleanor Barber (Year 10)
They
called us Half-Caste,
like
the way they said vermin,
They
said it was for the best,
as
they dragged us away from our mothers,
They
said they would protect us,
when
they locked us in cell-like rooms,
They
said they wouldn't hurt us,
after
they left dark bruises on our skin,
They
said they were right,
as
they taught us that we were unnatural,
They
said it was the best place for us,
when
we sobbed uncontrollably for our mothers,
They
said it was work,
after
we were sold into slavery,
They
said we were ungrateful and disobedient,
when
we couldn't do impossible work quotas,
They
said we were worthless,
when
our backs were shredded by whips,
They
said sorry,
after
I had lost my childhood,
They
said it wouldn't happen again,
as we
struggled to find jobs,
They
said it was my imagination,
as
they took my daughter's son,
They
said they were being fair,
when
my daughter had to fight to see her son,
They
said everyone was now equal,
as
they continued to take away our rights,
They
still call us Half-Caste,
like
the way they say vermin,
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