News Feature: Y11 Poetry Excellence

By Noah

An inspiring year 11 Bolingbroke student, Luna, has just had a pair of poems published on an online Magazine, Stride! Asked about how she felt on the incredible poems being published, Luna responded with, 'I feel very proud because I really was not expecting this particular magazine to accept me. Really famous poets also get accepted to it, including Penelope Shuttle, John F. Deane and Rupert Loydell,'

Luna described her process in formulating her poems, which are written predominantly in prose: 'I had to adapt my poems to fit the prose criteria - you send it (your submissions) in and you wait a couple of months - they usually say no but they accepted it so it was great!'

The first poem, which eloquently likens bubble gum to God, explores the inequality facing the less fortunate: 'I was intrigued by the idea of food that you can't swallow - it seems like a mockery to the impoverished - it seemed like an illusion,' Luna said.

Following on, the second piece questions the response of society to mental health issues: 'The second one was based on a real event of someone I knew who was suffering intently and no one seemed to care,' Luna said. "The idea that she was falling from a window pane was representative of the pain she felt in her life.'

Mr Dixon, Luna's English teacher, said, 'These poems are brilliant. It's testament to Luna's writing skill that she leaves the reader feeling so moved with so few words. In her first piece, the link between bubble gum and God is entirely original. And the second piece is as harrowing as it is provoking. She makes her reader THINK and that's a powerful thing to do at so young an age. Bravo!!!'

Hopefully more brilliant works can be published in the future! The two brilliant poems can be read on this link below:

Disclaimer: Some people may find the content of one of the poems distressing. If you have been affected by any of the issues contained in the poems please talk to a teacher or contact Mind.

http://stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2022/04/two-prose-poems-by-luna-crowther.html