Poems for the Planet
Inspired by the theme of this year's National Poetry Day and the collaboration with Greenpeace this year, the English Department held a poetry competition titled 'Poems for the Planet.' In their English classes, pupils discussed their understanding of the environment and the current threats and dangers it faces. We looked at poems such as 'Night Music' and 'To the River Stour' to inspire our own writing.
All pupils in Years 7-10 took part and we received a lot of fantastic entries - the competition was really tough! It was lovely to see pupils engaging with global awareness and taking different approaches to celebrating the planet we call home.
Winning Poems:
Lady bug – the lost breed
In the warm sunlight, the little creature
regally waddled across the evergreen leaves.
boom, bash, bang, someone is coming,
‘Look at that,’ called the teacher.
As the pack of children gathered,
the ladybug started to buzz.
When the kids blathered
suddenly the bug jumped to the ground
And before the kids could catch it
the bug spread its wings
she was out of sight,
but I have something to admit,
the children would never see her again.
Things have changed since 1957
when the ladybug first met the kids;
2022- humans couldn’t constrain
Global warning, pollution.
As if Death captured every bug that they could find.
Ladybugs started to disappear,
I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep you Ms Ladybug but
is it too late for a resolution?
Adorabelle O, Year 7
Our world
Eyes wide, a sea of clouds
stretching far into the blue,
as a faint dot in the distance
spirals down onto the broad trees
Picking up its heavy wings,
it flew, trees scattered like seeds,
drops of colour sprouting from
beneath the earth, the edges
mirroring the life surrounding it.
As the leaves dances in the wind,
tumbling upon fresh dew,
rotting, disintegrating into
dust, the splatter of the thick
sludge underfoot, oak crying
out, deformed. The rubbish
scattered. Waste drifting through
the air.
Gone is the tree, the sea,
the birds.
You try to escape but the air
is dense and your breath
becomes heavy
Till it all fades to nothing.
Gone was the place where there
once was something.
Anon, Year 8
I saw one once, outside my window.
It was tiny, but unmistakable in the grey.
Intrigued, I stuck my head out into the night,
And promised to check it the next day.
But a blizzard came later.
It was blistering and bold,
It bit through the floorboards, an invader.
I lost sleep to the sweet creature, worried it was cold.
The next day, as the storm began to still,
I searched hours, until I finally found it sleeping,
Brown and black, with bands along its magnificent quills.
But I left it in the wild, because it's not for keeping.
Jenny G, Year 9
Perfectly Placed Paws
The elegance of the white snow placed perfectly on ice,
Whilst small paws play and fight. Never dreaming of
Anything different,
The fish swim happily as the waves peacefully glide above them
Clouds roll in. Darkness stops the once joyful paws,
And the waves become rolling stones down a steep mountain,
Ice falls, rolls, cracks. Splitting these once beautiful paws away from each other.
The warmth of the sun dries the broken ice away,
As the perfectly placed snow drifts off into a memory.
The small paws never connected again.
Henrietta S, Year 10