The Year 10 Essential class has just finished studying a unit of poetry writing as part of their Year 10 English studies. The students had studied the various techniques and devices available to poets and then had the opportunity to put these to work in a poetic creation of their own. Dylan Claridge effectively captured the horror and desperation felt by a soldier during a gas attack in World War 1 and Cheranne Hayworth constructed a beautiful description of Japan, a place that she has visited!

Well done to all of the students!
 
Written by Karen Swain, Year 10 Essentials English Teacher

Sweet Sweet Chlorine Dylan Claridge

Trenches…they’re cold, muddy
Soldiers’ ankles sinking in
Spoiled water with blood and silt
Soldiers’ feet rotted to the bone  

In the distance the Hun
Slowly cranking open large 
Cylinders of pure DEATH
PANIC, PAIN, DEATH

Men found fumbling, stumbling 
Desperately groping for a mask
Fighting with friends for life
To see the sun smiling down
On their face telling them
It’s going to be okay 

Then it hits…everyone stops
Fixated eyes sweating with tears
Witnessing the green cloud 
Blanketing to gentle sleep  

COURIR one French man shouts 
LAUF one Flemish man shouts
RUN one English man shouts

A Day in Japan 
Cheranne Hayworth 

The sun peeks over Mount Fuji, smiling joyfully,
As the moon quietly walks away,
And the sunshine sparkles off the Shofuso Garden Lakes. 

The Green pheasants awaken, chirping noisily, 
As the Miyajima Torii stands floating for all to see nearby Hiroshima Bay, 
And the Baker merrily bakes Mochi cakes.

The cherry blossoms sing a happy chant, 
As the lanterns fly in the wind with colourful ribbons dangling down
And the tourists gaze at the Kabuki as they dance. 

The Shikoku dogs walk, showing their fleecy white tails on a slant,
As the melting snow dives on the grass from the tops of roofs, making a splash sound, 
And the Sensei’s prepare for combat in advance. 

The Geisha women pass around Japanese cuisine for the people, 
As the food can be smelt from all over like pollen leaving its flower, 
And the customers rush into get their favourite food like flocks of birds getting fish.

The waterfall cries three tears at the base of Kiyomizu-dera Temple,
As the strong beams hold without one nail of power, 
And the worshippers start to join as they wish. 

The fireworks burst in the sky, looking like happy fireflies shining through the darkness,
As the moon glowed through the soft clouds,
And the streets start to come alive with its beauty and graceful charm of the luminescent lights.