Student poems
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Land
By Michala (Year 11, Northcote High School)The feeling of this land
Land that was left for them
Them being those here first
First Nations Australians, owners of this land -
Black Leather Shoes
By Isabel (Year 11, Northcote High School)Maddie and Clea are sitting next to me
And had I not looked down I’d never have seen
The dark black leather that coated their feet
Or the coal-coloured rubber on the underneath -
Silent Solitude
By Percy (Year 11, Northcote High School)The trees the valley
The solitude the solace
But the blood that runs underneath
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Welcome
By Thea (Year 11, Northcote High School)smoke fills the air.
the gums prepare to choke.
miserable white gas normally suffocates.
instead, the warmth welcomes them. -
Merri Creek
By Sarah (Year 11, Northcote High School)white gum trees whisper
cockatoos call, meeting's near
ghosts sweep the valley
-
Industrialisation
By Grace (Year 11, Northcote High School)layers on layers
intricately encased
material vs. place
land misplaced
-
Roots
By Teia (Year 11, Northcote High School)This land we call ours
Has a richer history
Far deeper than us
Trees older than time -
Debt
By Asher (Year 11, Northcote High School)This country is beautiful
but it is not ours to admire
we owe to this Land
and the Peoples of it -
Swarm
By Hannah (Year 11, Northcote High School)The trees move as our words swarm the surroundings
We speak on terms of truth with the underlying of ideas that sway and lie
The lies that follow consume and lay down on the surface of our soul
The lands move as our thoughts swarm the surroundings -
Branches
By Polixeni (Year 11, Northcote High School)Fluttering leaves are falling down,
leaving their branches behind.
For bugs and birds to pick apart,
without their sticks and twine. -
embrace
By Evie (Year 11, Northcote High School)long, luscious strokes of vegetation
a soft, simple melody
a leaf-filtered breeze caressing my skin
-
Symbiotic
By Clea (Year 11, Northcote High School)The wattle bird feasts on the silver princess
The bird is fed
The princess thrives
A symbiotic relationship -
Stories
By Sarah (Year 11, Northcote High School)Stories told and stories sold,
Spirits old and then controlled.
Hearts aching due to our taking,
Truth unmaking since invaders partaking.
-
Ants
By Henry (Year 11, Northcote High School)Whose land do we stand on?
Whose earth are our buildings built from?
This soil has always been here
We use it like we own it -
Thieves of Land
By Sidney (Year 11, Northcote High School)The birds we stole from the sky, were they ours to steal?
The birds we brought over, did we have that right?
Like the invaders, we kill and camp,
on land that is not ours, and skies that are losing their song. -
eucalyptus
By Sian (Year 11, Northcote High School)new leaves stretch
their fingers to the sky and the birds
nibble the blossoms in their sincere way of life.
the old growth underneath is twisted and gnarled