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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol 35 no. 15. 1972

Poems of Young People

page 10

Poems of Young People

"Galileo"
What will my followers and students think of me?
Will they say I am a coward who denies everything he
has worked for? Will I let my ideas, which I know
are right, be destroyed by mere cowardly actions? But I am
old. Will I suffer the torture that they will give me which
means certain death or shall I choose to die peacefully
in my own bed? My mind will never be at rest and
my conscience will always be tormenting me if I choose
to live. My life is before me but so is my death.
If I choose to live will I die tomorrow, if there is
a tomorrow? If I die by torture will that prove my
courage to my followers? But what of my religion?
I am going against the laws of my church. All my
discoveries would be wasted, yet I cannot get myself
to say I am right for fear of torture,. What am
I to do? Shall I choose to live or die? They will
find me guilty. I know they will. They cannot open their
minds to my new discoveries.

Bernadine 11.

i feel people
I feel people like a worn out
battered sack.
thats looking everywhere for
something to hold, enclose, wrap-up.
and what do i see?
i see blood
i see guns
i see pleasure
i see loads of things
but they are all so large
they'd never fit in
besides I'm not strong enough
to be able to carry
any of those things
in my sack
so i just wait around
for something small and light,
something soft and smooth,
something that won't rip or tear
at my torn threads,
something that will help
put me back together again
i'm looking.

Babette 15.

Gaiety, romancing, happy music,
A city of life, joyous festivals,
While black limousines draw up
with cabinet ministers for
another round of talks:
Paris?
Thousands of miles away sprawling bodies
cover the monsoon-stricken ground.
Lush rice crops wither away with
time and bombs:
Vietnam?

Gene 13.

With rope burns
round his neck
Chain imprints
round his wrists
The weather-beaten
slave suffered
After serving many years
Shedding many tears
He finishes
his life
Before he starts.

Robert 13.

Why do we have to die?
Why can't we live for ever?
Why do we have to grow old
And end up in a wheel chair? Why can't we stay young,
Be happy,
Enjoy life for once?
Why?
The sun glittered in silence,
between the cloudlets in the sky,
but close by and around him,
no-one left and no-one came,
nothing more,
but a dead world.

George 13.

sorrow
sorry i sat on your hand
i couldn't feel it there
although its tenderness and warmth
clung to my own cold icy finger-tips
i didn't realise the pleasure
i received
while yours soothing
eased my pain
in my ease i released all my pain
to you
i sat on your hand
defying the strength that it gave me
i preferred to hide it beneath
my pride
only disclosing it when i felt the need
for more comfort
now the comfort is lost
and there is only pain.

Babette 15.

"Disregarded Peace"
Mary lives in a house surrounded by flowers,
John lives in an alley surrounded by dark walls.
Mary remembers life,
John remembers death.
Weak but still living
John is like a dove,
disregarded.

Jill 11.

A Jewish boy
A white dove
A jack-booted soldier.
A long sigh
Flying high
A dying cry.
The pointed gun
A clouded sun
Freedom numb

Warren 11

I am me. I am 11.1 am only four feet something
from the ground, and not even 100 pounds in weight.
Some people think those are reasons for not noticing me
or listening to me. Instead they regard me as a little nobod
whose opinions are worthless, whose ideas are silly. But
although I'm still growing, I'm a human somebody and
I have the fight to freedom of thought, speech and opinion
I have the same rights as any other living human on this
earth. Although the selfish ignorant people do not agree
about that and then leave me in vexation. They think I
am an irresponsible shrimp with no purpose, causing
destruction. But instead of secreting tears, my decision is
great. I know deep down inside somewhere that one day
I will have the chance to see what the world is
like in a different way. They will no longer misuse me
but instead I hope they will regard me as a human
me.

Susan 11.