Litmus Year: 2023
‘The cycle caused by borders’ by Nithya
A border is also a limit. Crossing the limit entails a hypothetical forbidden fruit. A desirable entity with embargo has a heightened dark allure. Humankind can only be so good at resisting temptation. Think of the rainbow myth. The border between land and the end of the rainbow supposedly boasts a generous pot of gold …
‘Strangers in a Strange Land’ by Abena Marfo, Year 9, Wolverhampton
In search of a better life, they come From distant lands, from their homes They leave behind all they know In the hope of a brighter tomorrow The journey is long, the path is harsh The road is rough, the way is dark But they press on, they persevere For the dream is real, the …
‘Pain Through My Eyes’ by Zara Wahid, Year 11, Holte School, Birmingham
Pain through my eyes. Everyone feels it but yet they deceive it, Like questions with no answers. Like music stopped all of sudden at a chorus, And like a book with pages ripped out, But as I’ve grew , I’ve seen through a decade and a half, The pages that are subsequently ripped in the …
‘Breakingthrough’ by Lucia Wright, Year 9, Chesterton Community College
The individually teared pages of Caitlin’s diary, from her previous life, lay strewn across the cold, lino floor. Her file clearly stated that they where her words but yet she spited them like the words of an enemy. She had to read them, M was clear about that because the judges of Macerc were to …
‘Over the Border’ by Tanishka Goel, Year 10, Wolverhampton Girls’ High School
Freedom is only a step away, Yet Fear blocks this path. It is only a metal fence in the way, But this one step calls upon Wrath. Just by placing one foot ahead, Persecution arrives at the door. The muddy ground turns blood red, And the people who dared are no more. The enemy seems …
‘Over the Wall’ by Stella Chapman, age 14
Context My “Over the Border” poem isn’t about a border as you’d imagine; it’s instead, a wall. The Berlin Wall, separating West and East Berlin from the years 1961-1989. It prevented communist-ruled Eastern Berlin citizens from fleeing to the capitalist-ruled Western Berlin during the Cold War. By the time the wall was built on 13th …