Inauguration Inspired Poetry

Serena and Mayumi in Year 10 both wrote poems inspired by Amanda Gorman’s poem at Joe Biden’s inauguration.

 

The challenge was to echo some of her sound patternings, as well as to capture an event or moment in time which had moved them in some way.

 

Mayumi’s poem and explanation 

 

This poem is inspired by the event that took place last year where 39 Vietnamese people suffocated in a lorry after trying to get into England. I decided to write about this after recently hearing that the drivers and people who helped smuggle them were jailed recently. I decided to write it from their perspective, but I obviously think their actions were wrong.

 

They will thank you in the long term – Mayumi

 

They will thank you in the long term.

They will thank you for a new life.

In a country known for being a haven to the ones who need it

Never mind that they are coming in illegally.

Stuck in a lorry for days on end.

All packed together holding out for that house, that car, that dream

They will thank you in the long term.

They don’t mind being in squashed together.

They might scream, cry, wish they never came.

Because once they get out

Once they are in the lands of glory and hope

They will thank you in the long term.

It might go wrong.

So wrong.

But the money

So much money

You will be ok in the long term.

Be positive.

Like they say no pain, no gain.

They paid you.

They know the risks.

Yes, they paid a lot and what they are getting isn’t VIP.

But you are getting them there.

Where they want to go

So put that little voice in your head.

The one telling you.

Its wrong and you might kill them.

They have families.

Push it far back in your mind.

Because they will thank you in the long term.

 

(Dis)unite – Serena

 

In this disunited kingdom we need to reunite,

Unable to find the courage to fight, our dreams will die,

Yet politicians deny their incapability, they cheat and they lie,

They show so little humility while they swerve and deny,

Any wrongdoing is hidden away,

My generation have no say

in how the world behaves these days,

 

We have no say in our education,

Their tone is demeaning,

They scold our creativity whilst interfering, with the truth,

In attempt to hide mistakes from the youth,

But I know what they do, so I seek what is true,

Or else I’m left weak, what do you do?

 

The syllabus seems to be the law,

Learning facts we have no use for, learning them to vomit onto a test,

We’re compared to the best, criticized for the rest,

Behaviour noted, homework ‘marked’,

Marked full of crosses and strict remarks,

 

But every once in a while, they abscond from the syllabus,

They teach us what’s happening out there,

They smile because it’s only fair,

 

Only fair to teach the next generation to be driven,

To treat us with patience, this world’s a difficult place to live in,

 

In the UK,

Our people are dying from the virus

Our politicians are lying their responses surprise us

And our country is crying as we try to adjust,

 

The US aim to settle a divide, they try to treat people equally,

But all too frequently hatred is buried deep inside,

 

Literature becoming scripture,

Presidents setting precedents,

Politicians lies causing their demise,

Education on hold the effects untold,

 

The virus has us in its grasp,

If we can fight to unite,

Heal the divide deep inside

Tell the truth to our youth,

Only then will this era of terror be in the past.

Until then let’s see how long we last,

 

Perhaps we’ll survive,

But with change,

 

We’ll thrive.