SO, YOU THINK YOU’RE FREE Creative writing TO CHOOSE YOUR UNIVERSITY? Grace Whelan
Lower Sixth
The Letter I wonder if my letter has arrived? Across the open waters of the sea. Will it have braved the storms? Has it survived? Precious paper that means so much to me. My thoughts are carried like a bird of prey, to my mother they go; a place I know. My home of green fields, of farms far away. Unlike the trenches of bleak, wet and snow. Will my words be placed in her working hands? To keep worries of war far from her mind. To know I am safe in these wounded lands. On precious paper of ink, I have signed. From your dearest son, who longs to return. To the warmth of my home, where fires will burn. Kitty Hogg Second Year
Archive poem The announcement came that schools were to close, What will lessons look like? No one knows. What on earth is ‘Teams’? How do you join a meeting? Teaching remote lessons where ‘thumbs up’ was the greeting. ‘Initials’ not faces, ‘chat’ not conversation, Lockdown seemed to continue for an infinite duration. But persistence prevailed and the students have thrived, They demonstrated autonomy, sheer grit and drive. When our school opens I know so much will have changed, With distancing rules, ‘bubbles’ and tables rearranged. But behind the ‘new normal’ we all have a journey we’ve shared, And for life’s future hurdles we are all more prepared. Amanda Clark Staff
65
