"this is sixth form poetry, not Keats or Yeats"
Your barren canvas stretches Tightly across forgotten states; Caught between unforgiving waves And starry mountain peaks, Your pulse beats unhurriedly In this hibernation of solitude. Permafrost litters your landscape: Continuous, Discontinuous, Sporadic. Its frozen core A hard border to Fertile soils and Future disturbance. But as the ice begins to melt These borders shift; … Read more
Hidden behind the fragility Of a sub-Antarctic archipelago, A speck of shamrock shimmers On a sea of turquoise. Exploding into life this fleck Becomes a floating forest; Vacuous blues graffitied with Organic, dancing tones of green. Rising white beacons of sediment Carried on clandestine currents, Breathing new life into This aquatic wasteland. … Read more
Your recent absences have become More pronounced; The late spring evenings are no longer Alive with the industry of your approach, And the flowers in the hanging baskets On the high street fidget with uncertainty. We know that something is wrong, and So we call a meeting in the public library, where We trace your … Read more
Beneath the shimmering surface of the sea Lie tiny specks of hope, Inconsequential fragments of life That work tirelessly to remove The years of smut and grease Regurgitated by higher organisms. Locked in the loving embrace of these Forgettable and singular plant cells This industrial detritus falls like snow, Giant flecks of white that drift … Read more
You struggle for breath. And reach towards the sun With yellowed fingertips; Stunted roots Can no longer drink The static water that was Once a stream. Your perfectly preserved husk Lies buried; Sheets of glass Protect your shroud from Arctic hare and polar fox; Their footsteps vibrating gently Against the windowpane of Your mausoleum. … Read more
Within the temperate climes of wooded land, Disturbances are part of nature’s flow; But as the rising heat gets out of hand, The fingerprints of change begin to grow. The patchiness of localised affairs, Cannot conceal the wider cracks and tears; The global climate means it won’t be long, Until the forests that we … Read more
The sun-bleached earth bursts into flame, As lightning forks across the sky; A stolen gift for us to try, A burning life that we could tame. But once we gave this gift a name, We blinked the impacts from our eye; The sun-bleached earth bursts into flame, As lightning forks across the sky. … Read more
As our oceans warm from global change, Vibrant corals dissolve and collapse; Reefs in the Northern Red Sea Are sheltered from the stress. But local events Bring pollution; In the end They will Break. This is a nonet, inspired by recent research which has found that excess nutrients from human activities may compromise the resilience … Read more
Amongst the icy peaks and stony seas, We count the plants that call such heights a home; Traversing every sudden gale and breeze, To better understand how they have grown. Across the years of data in this zone, Diversity increased at quickened pace; Accelerating at a speed unknown. So even in the most secluded place, … Read more
As climates change and rainfalls slow, Our trees adapt the way they grow; For every water-seeking root, The greenery becomes dilute. A forest we no longer know. Now forced to reap the seeds we sow Above the ground and deep below, The outcome of forbidden fruit. As climates change. This biome that begins … Read more