Choices by Amelia (Year 7 LGGS)
So hard.
Can’t breathe, lungs burning.
Which door should I choose?
Too much pressure.
I can’t do this.
Which door is the one.
Choices.
Should I just guess
No too risky.
My life depends on this.
I’m going to guess door 1.
Light I’m safe at last.
The Birthday Present by Julie Carter
*WARNING – this poem contains strong language*
I was born in Sunderland on the 10th April 1964
In the early hours of the morning before dawn.
What did you get for your birthday?
I got colouring crayons and Lego,
a doll and a pink teddy,
I got new shoes, a coat,
a jumper I did not like.
I always asked for books
but nobody gave me books.
What did you get for your birthday?
One year I got an Easter egg
with chocolates inside and I tried
my very, very best to make it last.
What did you get for your birthday?
I got nightmares and waking terror,
I got a clout round the head,
I got drunk on my brother’s home-brewed beer,
a ringside seat at a soap opera
where a man fucked his unwilling wife
and fucked our lives.
What did you get for your birthday?
I got fear, cold and constant,
I got secrets I could not keep.
I always asked for a puppy
But nobody gave me a puppy.
What did you get for your birthday?
I got blood, and bones, and breath,
I got legs that can run fast,
I got eyes that I can keep open
And look, and see, and wonder.
Then what did you get for your birthday?
I got the choice to speak or be silent,
the choice to listen and hear uncomfortable truths,
the choice to breathe or hold it,
the choice to flee, or fight, or freeze.
I got the choice to imagine,
I got the choice to trust myself,
the choice to try to love you.
And what did you get for your birthday?
I got choices.
It was a hell of a present.
Yes or no
Stay or go
Friend or foe
Choi-ces!
Day or night
Peace or fight
Black or white
Choi-ces!
Good or bad
Happy or sad
Calm or mad
Choi-ces!
One soul meets another, a gem.
Welcome to this gem.
It is empty.
Make your way.
All the drawn corridors are made of lights and mirrors.
Here you are.
Which path were you from?
Will you travel any further?
Do anything to your map?
Beyond Oor Ken by Linda Goulden
There’s times I dinnae ken just what to do
and whiles I ken but then I dinnae do.
At ither times, you ken, I do. But, when I do,
then who’s to ken? I dinnae ken. Do you?
*WARNING – this poem contains strong language*
You read because you seek a nugget.
You know it’s not in the everyday stream
And neither is it lodged in the rock of endless family.
Instinctively, you know the glean,
Is put in the last place you might look.
Hanging, invisible, Off the fucking hook.
It’s there for sure,
When a buddy says it’s so.
Otherwise you are left with the mirror,
And smartness has the move too fast to make it flow.
Like that. The fucking water rat,
has purpose and one that would shrink all that,
To the book of little belief.
Faith without is true faith,
And the head on your pimple is ever,
destiny to burst out all over on,
a cheek of time that will never
rhyme, but might pus you forward.
To the stop where it is you on the platform
Yes dishevelled
Waiting endless for the ride.
It seems a cheap choice
Until every train has skidded on by
And mirrorland will call you hoping
That the check into the zoo
Is peaceful and with understanding,
And the rush of others goes,yah but goes
And you stand strong and stretching
Forever alone.
Freedom and forbiddance by Grace (Year 7, LGGS)
Imagine a life of adventure and freedom,
An open door on every corner,
Choices ready for you to grasp tightly,
The world is your oyster.
Imagine a life with no opportunities,
The world is caving in,
Choices buried deep underground no way to break in,
Devastation, sadness, anger, frustration,
The world is your captor.
Your home is your lottery ticket , the key to everything,
Your leaders, your guidance, your containment, Your choices.
Every choice we make… by Haniyah (Year 7, LGGS)
Every choice we make,
Always makes a difference,
No matter how small or big,
They all add up to where we are today.
If we didn’t meet there,
How lost would I be now?
If I didn’t go to the park that day,
Where would I be now?
If you didn’t walk your cat that day,
How lost would you be now?
But we can’t dream of what could’ve been,
Because all that matters that we are sitting here today.
Choices by Hashbala (Year 8, LGGS)
Moonlight streams through the gaps of the towering branches,
Encircling the area, its thorny looms of darkness and leaves hustling down like avalanches,
In front of you lies two queer, identical paths, both asking for a foot to be set on,
One wrong step, and you’ll be gone,
each blink feels like metal enclosing your eye,
each drop of rain feels like blood stinging,
each rumble of thunder feels like starvation,
each flash of light feels like hope,
and you carefully place your on one of the paths,
and the world blanks out.
The road less travelled was fair
(although twigs wound themselves in my hair)
and I thought, as I went
with my heart quite content,
‘I’d much rather be here than there’.
Everyday we face a choice.
It’s up to us to use our voice.
Weigh up the options, think ahead.
Forget what others may have said.
A choice that’s mad, a choice that’s clever:
Our choice could change our life forever.
Sometimes there is no chance to choose,
Unlike the purchase of new shoes.
If we’re in this sorry place,
No need to wince or hide our face.
Sometimes a choice we thought was bad,
Can bring us joys we never had.
I feel so free
So full of light
Every possibility, unfolding with grace and wisdom
A candle flickers
An idea ignites
Creativity is in full flight
Calm and truthful
Pain, for this end alone
Is worth all of my lifetimes.
Choosing the Light by Roveena Ramsamy
Shall we make the choice
To awaken
Each morning
With a smile
With a cheer
No more gloomy days
No more darkened thoughts
It is indeed a choice
To walk ahead
With optimism
Like a fool
Like a child
It is indeed a choice
To dream
Of hope and love
Despite the scars
That sear
The mind and heart
Shall we choose
The promise of love
And have faith in life
Despite the chaos
Within and without
Let us choose
The illusion of light
For that is all life is
Light and darkness
Taking turns on stage
A series of choices
The director makes
In the movie
Of our lives
Choice by Lyu Yueyan (Lucy Lyu)
Choice, the deepest inside of ourselves,
Affecting us day in and day out,
Unstoppable.
The choices of ourselves,
Are those saints? Evils? Or goblins?
Leading us to the edge of cliffs or the fringe of paradise,
The Unknown hazards,
The unknown future,
What’s the actual choice of ours?
Unpredictable.
The way we walked,
The choices we made,
Right or wrong,
Seemingly flawless outside,
But incomplete inside.
Choice, choice,
Struggling inside,
What should we choose?
What should we throw away?
Still unanswered.
The only thing that makes us choose a good decision,
Is to follow our hearts,
The Undeniable.
Whatever choices we make,
Accept it, cherish it, and love it.
Because that is the meaning of our lives,
Choice, choice,
Our guidelines,
Our evil spirits,
Whichever way we choose,
It will always be beautiful, unavoidable, and painful,
To our fragile hearts.
Choosing by Weronika (Year 8, LGGS)
The bridge stands, quavering,
Seemingly tall but In jeopardy,
It’s legs like stilts,
Fall or continue trying?
Try or continue crying?
Unsure, where to?
What would be best for you?
Time Is still ticking,
Your heartbeat quickening,
The bridge stands, shaking,
Seemingly strong but still quaking,
Choices need to be made,
For the bridge Is you,
And wrong choices might make you fall.
