Ng Yu Hang - 2E'06

The crash of the rushing waterfall undulated like emotion through my consciousness.

I peer into the myriad of plummeting tears, and watch
as each teardrop ripples across the surface of water
like a drop of paint’s descent into a featureless lake.
like a rhapsody of colours’ reanimation of a monochrome picture.

And I suppressed the desire to scream in hope.
And I suppressed the impulse to scream in despair.
And I suppressed the compulsion to scream my final goodbye.

And oh, as I finally opened my mouth to scream,
I found myself at the bottom of a lake,
a gulp of water forcing its way through my gaping mouth.
My consciousness wavers, and I drown,
my crypt the forlorn depths of a forgotten ocean.

The tinkle of the rushing waterfall crooned a sorrowful serenade of loss for a friendship long forgotten.

I have forsaken the world,
and now am one with it.
I am alone,
and now am in the best of company.

Inspiration

The tranquility of the cavern behind the waterfall despite the crash of the water, amplified by the solitude of the place and the mesmerizing patter of the water droplets created a beautiful backdrop in which one feels alone; not lonesome, but alone and content. Poems learned in class such as Woodsworth’s The World Is Too Much With Us speaks of how the modernization has taken away the beauty of nature. Thus, to rediscover nature in its full splendor, one must relinquish the material world; a concept which has been implemented into the poem. The usage of present tense in the last two verses of the third stanza is on purpose, so as to portray a more first person view than that of a recount.

Claudia Tay 2B/06

Firstly, this image is of three wooden chickens on the soil amongst the plants. One looks like it is going to peck the ground, the second one is standing upright and the last one is sitting as if it’s sitting on a nest. There is also a lamp that faces the tree and the ceiling of the greenhouse in the background can be seen.

This picture shows the current situation of the world. That one day, with even more advancement of technology, we would have to replace what nature we once had with fake figurines in various actions the live ones used to do. Also that one day man would take over the whole world including the sky as can be seen by the greenhouse in the back ground. However there is a contrast that the lamp that faces the tree shows more emphasis on the tree as that lamp would illuminate the tree in the dark. Perhaps this would mean that in the darkest times, nature would triumph.

The message in this picture is that maybe one day we would have to recreate nature due to us destroying it but it would end up with nature winning the battle against man with humans destroying themselves in the process.

The next photo is of a lake in middle of the picture surrounded by man-made fences, the sidewalk and a building which is then surrounded by greenery.

This photo shows that nature is being surrounded by man yet man is also surrounded by nature in the end. The significance is the ratio of nature to the ratio of man or in this case, man-made structures. It shows the struggles of man trying to conquer nature as can be seen by the structures in the trees. In fact, there is a sense of claustrophobic feeling as the trees seem to engulf the few man-made features yet it does not seem menacing as the sun shines into this enclosure. This symbolises that nature would not harm man.

Interestingly enough, green seems to dominate this photos, green representing nature hence nature’s power against man. What the photo is trying to say is that man can try to control nature but in the end, it will be nature that controls man.

The last photo is of plants in an enclosure with a fence separating the visitors from these plants. If you look closely, you can spot the plants have little tags on them.

This photo shows the apparent way man is trying to domesticate nature. Firstly, little tags can be seen on the plants. This symbolises man trying to control nature- as if giving a tag would give a sense of belonging to man. The next obvious sign of man’s dominance would be that these plants are kept in a greenhouse, not outdoors in nature, where it truly belongs. Lastly there is a fence separating the people from the plants. It is like keeping a dog in a cage and not letting it out as though separating the plants would help tame them.

This photo shows the apparent way man is treating nature and how man is trying to control nature by using technology to cage up nature which defies the basic principle of nature which is to be free instead of being in an enclosure separated from everyone.

Done by: Claudia Tay 2B/06

Glen Ko 2F06

Prologue
I was inspired by this little tree, all alone by itself without fellow saplings around it. Only grown mature trees were around. I knew soon enough it would be just like the others, and would not fall to just a light trod. The fertilizer around it would aid it in its quest for growth and beauty for all to behold in the botanical gardens. This inspiration gave me the idea to compose this limerick.

Little Tree

Once there was a little tree
Who sat under the sun.
He wished someday that he could be
A really huge one

He looked to his right and asked his brother,
“How did you grow so tall?”
His brother pointed to the fertilizer;
“Make sure you suck it all”

When the workers came out that night
And evenly spread out peat.
Little tree erected to full height
To see what he could eat.

“Dubious dung, it stings my tongue!”
Said little tree as he burped
“Calm down, o little one,
you don’t want to stay a squirt!”

Little tree little tree,
Didn’t stay little for long.
He ate and ate obediently
And proved the humans wrong.

“Cant control me as you want!”
And the children were afraid,
For if they dared to poke him even once,
His fruits would strike their heads.


Glen Ko
2F06

Roots and fences

The image potrays the image of the roots of the tree pushing against a man-made fence. The tree represents Nature while the fence represents Man. The roots of the tree pushing against the man-made fence shows that Man fails to obstruct Nature and how Nature can overpower Man’s artificial constructions. The image also shows how Man is vulnerable to the destruction caused by Nature and how Man in fact is at its mercy. The roots of the tree can be seen breaking some parts of the fences. This shows that there is a dark side to Nature and Nature can cause much destruction to Man. The color composition of the image involves dark colors, with brown especially prominent and the lighting in the image is not very bright. This again represents the dark side of Nature. The image shows that Nature has a big role in urban society today. This can be seen by the large roots of the trees. Nature is feared in urban society today due to the many natural disasters that occur in the world today which is represented by the roots breaking the fence.

Warda 2C/06

The image shows a tree which is being stabilized by some strings probably because the tree is unable to stand on its own. The tree represents Nature and the sticks which support the strings represent Man. The strings supporting the tree show the power that Man has over Nature, how Nature sometimes needs Man’s support to stay alive. This shows that Man’s actions can have a positive effect on Nature, if his actions are thoughtful and look to the best interests of Nature. For example, when Man sets up nature reserves and botanical gardens in its urban areas, it provides safe habitats for birds, insects, and other animals, as well as many trees. The image says that nature still has an important place in urban society today, as Man still makes an effort to conserve nature as stated by the examples mentioned above. In urban society today, there are instances where nature is at the mercy of Man, Man’s actions affect the condition of Nature be it in a positive or negative way.

Warda 2C/06