Litmus Year: 2023
‘Over the Border’ by Cynthia Sherry, Year 9
It is a place you cannot see; a place you cannot hear. The whispers only travel through the stealthy shadows. The silence creeps its fingers around you without any warning. If you could save the ones you love from those fingers, maybe you could stop them from choking the light from their eyes, the desperation …
‘Visiting Hours of the Past’ by Sandeen
tracing the outline of a faintly-sketched barrier, soon to fade from my consciousness, as my age flips to a double-digit, and I am no longer being carried out of the car, or placed on a beaten-up, musky smelling sofa to sleep on. soon my memories will taste of sobriety and reminiscence, and the lingering ache …
‘The Barbed Wire Border’ by Samuel Austin, age 15, Year 11
It was a border of barbed wire and towers. Others in the courtyard were lifting weights, playing basketball and other such games. I, however, stood there, one the edge, watching, longing. I saw beyond the fence, guards with batons and german shepherds, the back of a sign I knew said “border state prison” and further …
‘Broken Down Walls’ by May Edwards
As your hands tap incessantly on the glass wall between us, I cannot help but smile at your naivety. As your calloused fingers try desperately to redeem us, I try so hard to climb over the wall that you built so easily. I wish I could bridge the gap between us. I wish the things …