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Posted on October 16th 2014
NACE Poetry Competition
Last month, students from years 7, 8 and 9 wrote poems on 'crossing a border' as their entries for the 2014 NACE poetry competition (the National Association for Able Children in Education). During English lessons, students gathered ideas about different kinds of borders to write about, for example, roads, countries, mental boundaries and so on. Entrants could be serious or silly, funny or sad. The poems will be judged by a panel including NACE trustees, and the Director and CEO. Those that make it to the final round will be read by well-known author Anne Fine OBE, who will choose the winners. The first prize is £50. Students tried their very best and it was a hard decision for the English teachers to select the best few to be entered. With the selection made, the poems have been sent off and we await the final verdict. I was lucky enough to be an entrant and am excited to see how I do. - Raynia Samuel 8CB
Karis Hinds 8TB - Border
I walked through,
The smell of raspberries,
Blinded by brightness,
Whispering leaves brushed past me
The croaking frog jumped,
While the butterflies waltzed,
The sound of laughing children,
With the creaks of a rusty swing
Now the snow leaps in the air,
The breeze brushes my face,
A warm sensation rushes over me,
I’m soaring, flying through the sky
A mirror faced me,
I laid a finger upon it,
A loud smash of glass yelled,
I was back.
Donell Bains 8TP - An inch, or two
As I drifted off to sleep
I crossed into another realm
One where I could be free,
Where all my stress would be gone from within me.
I take a closer look at my surroundings,
a canopy of leaves rustles above my head,
I am a cocoon of vines;
evolving inside my bed.
I can feel the greenery consuming me,
as the rainforest swallows me whole,
I begin to panic as my legs sink deeper into the soil,
my arms branch off into the sky,
I have reached my goal of growing so high…
I wake up and feel my legs
then I flick the switch on my lamp,
I get out of bed,
only to find that I have a cramp.
As I struggle towards the chart,
I slump against the wall,
to discover that I have grown an inch, or two,
I’d bet you any day that I’m taller than you!
Raynia Samuel 8CB - The Crossing
The bitter wind. Biting the tips of my ears as I approach it.
Busy and slow, a robust smell of petrol strikes me suddenly as I
stand at the edge, waiting to get across as soon as possible.
Ice melts into my tongue while I am surrounded by a chalky desert;
I hear the blare of impatient vehicles which startles me abruptly.
My ears are now two crimson apples just like the gradual evening
sky. I hear the wailing of cars trying to wake up whilst immersed in
a delicate white blanket.
I eventually see green and cautiously stagger along the unwilted
concrete to the other side.
The snow begins to fall heavily now and I turn back at the
engrossed strip of vehicles and ice.
I have finally crossed the road.
Pearl Wright 8CB - Follow a dream into a book
You and me we feel a book,
a nice soft cover with an open book,
suddenly then I feel a hand,
a big wide one sweep me off into
my land.
You are a cotton soft rabbit
with a watch to your hand and I
am Alice with a brilliant plan.
I follow you like a cat and a mouse
but make sure I don’t suddenly pounce.
So I follow you to the mysterious land.
Everything’s floating as I drop right down.
Is it the end of my adventure or has it
just begun…?
Esi Quartey 8AA - Words don’t hurt
Why is it you crawl beneath me?
In your grip, a sharp, metal blade,
You slither, slowly emerging from the undergrowth,
Gradually dragging me down
Like a boa constrictor you strangle me,
Destroying every blood vessel in my body
But who are you?
I waste my precious tears,
As I weep silently,
In fear of the poisonous words you’ll soon thrust upon me.
You stamp me into the dirt as if I’m absolutely nothing
And I hear your wicked cackle
Abruptly, I escape your powerful grip
As I realise you are nothing to me
Nothing but a feeble sheep, hiding behind a monitor
Nothing but a cowardly anonymous hater,
Seeking their next victim…
It’s a funny thing, jealousy,
In a way it is both love and hate at the same time.
Niko Burns 8AA - The east and the west
I climb,
higher and higher,
stronger and stronger,
my people look at me from below in awe,
but cheer me on, admiringly.
I reach the top and stand,
looking behind at the ruined east,
and then to the west, a haven,
with well-kept streets and flower beds,
with tall trees that brush against the buildings.
I look down at the people of the west,
they look back at me, disgusted,
as if I am filth.
But I am not filth.
I smile and jump down, knowing that if I had done this yesterday,
I would not have lived to see this side of Berlin.
I shake my fist, triumphant.
The people of the east begin to attack the wall,
with sledgehammers and anger,
as the wall of injustice comes crumbling down.
Dylan Reid 7SP - Up my road
I stepped out of the time portal,
In the future everyone seemed to be mortal.
The looks and styles were very confusing,
Up so high, flying cars were cruising.
Everyone stared at me which I found quite rude,
Many of them said to me, “What are you wearing Dude!”.
Walking along what used to be my road,
Now there are markets filled with food, even fried toad.
I saw a new being, not sure where it was,
To me it was like a cross between a dog and octopus.
Wondering how this creature was made,
Was it natural or created with aid?
As I went to find out what people did for fun,
I found out all their minds were one.
This was strange, to see everyone have the same mind,
I did not find that particularly kind.
Each one knowing what the other would do,
This did not seem free or true.
This was more like the mindset of a slave,
This was not how someone should behave.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten,
Hoping I would return to my own time again.
I waited three seconds and opened my eyes,
after my bad encounter with future food, I fancied some good old pies.
Mohamed Ahmed 7CB - Territory
The word ‘territory’ means and is related to the word border
Every country has their own orders
Regulations of the country (you must know)!
Rights allowed by humans and the rights of the country
International relationships.
Terms and times (to stay how long)
Obligations needed
Ready to cross the borders?!
You must obey all of these to be a good citizen.
William Ndibe 7CK - Dragon land
The roar of the wind blowing lava away
Into very dark caves
Volcanoes erupting burning massive rocks into little crisps
People may think this is just a myth
But I can tell you there are even dragons with their giant wings
Oh there are just amazing things
Mind you it is dangerous for humans
As you know there is a beginning and a conclusion
Sadly if we go to dragon land it will be a conclusion
Where every rock and howling winds can talk
The smell of the burning can even make you suffocate
And believe me you would be wise to close your mouth
If you don’t it will feel like your insides are burning
It might be dangerous but believe me the sight
of the crystal blooming wings of the dragons can take your breath away
The volcanoes are so loud it even makes the ground shake
Humzah Mohamed 7CB - Lies and truth
When I found out, I couldn’t believe it,
All of a sudden, the edges in the room became rough,
If you touched the wall you were bound
to get at least a cut,
The flames in the distance started to rise,
bigger and faster,
The smoke started to come closer,
nearer to me,
And now you could hear the sirens,
their high-pitched sound,
“ALERT!!!” It’s near you, it’s coming it screams.
But it’s too late now I’ve exploded,
The smoke it got you, choked you, its thick,
polluted smell.
Romario Morris 7AP - Borders
Talking trees swaying everywhere yet continuously growing
With the energy from the trees their aura keeps on flowing
Never ending powers going
It’s crazy but the big tree is knowing
The life of bridges never ends, trolls always screeching hours on end
Weird yet understandable
Bones talking to me not understandable
Life problems rushing at you no explanation
The moon’s squishing you what to do
Got electrocuted too bad
Bad outcome oh well
Nightmare never ending
When it looks like those empty moments
Laughter came at me
Rushing to the amazing show of works
Cool explosions and ultimate display
Ethan Goulbourne 7SS - The Sea
The sea is a calm and tranquil
place but it acts like a
security guard, stops you in a shallowy
trap which which suspends you to a point
where you don’t know where you are.
The sea walks slowly along the sea
floor almost like the sea has all the
time in the world.
The sea speaks in a low tone
like it’s trying to whisper to you. It
says “help me” but I would sound
silly if I spoke to the sea. Would you?
Joshua Roye 9TP - In a world where everything is opposite
In a world where everything is opposite,
the trees slowly shrink
and the clouds float softly down on the ground,
children play football with their hands.
Babies whimper instead of screaming,
dogs meow instead of barking,
cats bark instead of meowing,
and fish still are fish.
Families whisper to their TVs as England scores an own goal,
parents freeze their cooked meals ready to eat,
and children frown when they win a game in Duty of Call,
in a world where everything is opposite.
The problem with the world
is that robbers chase cops
and all crime is legal,
nowhere is safe,
so everyone carries on like it’s normal,
in a world where everything is opposite.
Outside you smell fresh air,
and see shrinking flowers,
you feel rocks under your feet
and hear cows oinking in the distance,
in a world where everything is opposite.
Daisy Parker 9AA - Across the border
Breaking
I am breaking all
the rules and walking
into the unknown.
Opening
my eyes are now
opening as I see
that all my fears were pointless.
Reaching
I stumble as I
reach out and grab
love and put it in
my pocket, leaving
hate to feel sorry for
itself.
Dreaming
as I get up, I am
dreaming of what conflict
I could cause just by
taking one step forward.
Escalating
my thoughts are escalating
into scenarios I cannot
comprehend.
Rising
I am forever rising
against the border as
the waves crash and
moan, aching to be
noticed and adored.
But it’s not that simple
is it?
