Gwyneth Liew 2D/06

I looked upon this crimson red hibiscus and was struck by how perfect it looked. It is a beautiful flower, but if I had gone to the Botanic Gardens that day without an assignment in mind, I would have probably overlooked it. It would have remained forgotten. Stepping on the fallen leaves and assorted flowers on the pathway, it occured to me that nobody realises that they are trampling on nature's works. They lie there, unseen. We have studied that man has lost touch with nature, and has forgotten to appreciate its beauty. Hence in my poem, I emphasize the lost connection and lost love between man and nature. This is because man no longer truly sees nature nor recognises its beauty.

Diamonds in the tree

This is beauty, she said.
This is the beauty of nature.
Crimson floods my eyes,
I do not see it.

This tree, she said.
This is the tree of life.
The leaves fall, hurled earthward by the wind,
I do not see it.

A flash of crimson and green,
Now strewn like paint on the pavement.
Is this the beauty of nature? Is this the tree of life?
The rain has crushed them into obedience.

I see a picture, she said.
I see a picture on the pavement.
It is a picture of forgotten beauty,
And grief over a lost love.

Look, there are diamonds in the tree.
I cannot see it.
Look closer.


- Gwyneth Liew 2D/06

Wu Yahan 2E06

Dying Beauty

Hold on, like a mother holds her child,
Embrace love in this enchanting beauty.
Be the star ballerina in this magical wild.
You say, “ Come to freedom when you come to me.”

Then why did I feel what I felt?
That all good things must come to an end.
Flowers wither, even candles melt
Dying beauty nobody bothers to mend.

Like a morning dream, you smiled.
Life’s always on this fast forward lane.
“Some other day perhaps, then I’ll reach out”
Yet nobody really sees heaven in my grain of sand.

Still, love, don’t shed a tear.
For this heartache calls out to none.
With each sunset I have no fear,
Do believe that hope will grant me one more dance.

We breathe without a doubt what tomorrow brings,
Inflicting pain on nature that nobody sees.
Each day passing can’t replace yesterday’s dreams,
And soon love will leave you with a goodbye kiss.

The poem was inspired by the two flowers- one withered and one blossoming under the sun. It symbolizes hope and yet lost hope. Even though the blossoming flower should have been the focus of the whole picture, I see it something which is actually hidden, and that is dying beauty.

Wu Yahan
2e06

Ellery Aruldoss - 2E06

As I strolled along the meandering path amidst the quiet serenity of the gardens, I was deep in thought about the troubles of life and their significance. My world is built largely around school, friends and family, each with different complications and various settings, each one had me in its thrall. Lost in my personal concerns, I failed to notice nature beckoning me to fall into its sweet embrace, to allow me to forget my problems and lose myself in the heavenly greenery. Instead I chanced upon a little terrapin minding its time away beside a huge pond. Something about the terrapin and its own little world reflected on my personal world and I wondered for a moment or two whether the terrapin faced its own quirky problems that it had to deal with. This inspired me to write this poem based on the comings and goings in the life of one little terrapin.


THE MIGHTY TERRAPIN

The king of the pond sat on his throne
And looked upon the water
He called the pond his own
And jumped straight in thereafter

He swam amongst the fish and declared:
“I shall be your king!”
The fish laughed and thought he was mad,
They cried “he doesn’t know a thing!”

He swam to the seaweed down to the snails,
And to the shells they popped inside.
Screamed the king in a voice that screeched like nails,
“You can’t run but you sure can hide!”

He paddled to the surface to see a swan
What a beautiful sight was there
Said he to the swan, “let me be the one”
But was fixed with an indifferent stare.

The king swam back, dejected and sad
“As a king no one wants me ever since,
But take heed my dear friends, for tomorrow I’ll be glad
To try my luck as a prince!”


Ellery Aruldoss 2E

Oh Peng Ho 2D'06

GIRL ON A SWING 



Hey, sweet serene lady
Hanging over there.
Why you oh so pretty
Swinging in the air.

Two metal chains and a wooden plank
What wonderful supporting aids!
That brings her far beyond her bank
Yet she is but a merry maid.

There the red and green grasses
Blends in the surrounding.
And the canopy behind covers
Making you all so outstanding!

You are so peaceful,
You are so innate,
You are so beautiful,
Yet you are but a merry maid.

While looking into those eyes,
One would definitely wonder
What magnificence in her lies?
And who’s that breathtaking creator?

Little she may realize,
What great her creator have made.
She belongs to it till she dies,
Yet she’s but a merry maid

How she is so ignorant,
How she just knows of annihilate.
How her growth, which is rampant,
Bring about the impending death date.

But what can be done?
She knows not the way to recuperate.
What has been done is already done,
And yet she is still only a merry maid.

Oh Peng Ho
Temasek Academy 2D'06

Eadelin Chantelle Y Dizon, 2E/06

My group was walking along the roads of Tanglin Core when I turned to the left and took a snapshot. I could hear a tune, a symphony floating through my head when I looked back at the snapshots from the trip. I didn't know how to start this piece, how to link Man and Nature together in a poem of my own, how to capture the breathtaking beauty of something of such simplicity in only words. But after much thinking, I decided it was best to reflect nature in the way this poem was written. So here it is: completely unedited, completely untouched after its first draft. Just like the beauty of nature.

Symphony

Two white sticks up against a big and burly brown-red tree,
Man supporting Nature in a gesture, seemingly.
Bushes around fall in awe, the
Red clay, pebbles, lace the floor the
Tree stands on. Oh love, the sight, in such despairing heat!
Beauty raw and nature flawless
Come adore what (God-made-)Man has brought us
Come see the light, the tree upright,
And wonder what God had the eye
To put the red clay, green bush, blue
Sky like an orchestra glued,
Conducted by the sticks of Man to make all caged expression free,
Sounds like pure heaven to me, heaven to me.

Eadelin Chantelle Y Dizon

Temasek Academy 2E/06