I have always been keen to post poems by secondary-school students on Poetry Shelf and engage with them on various levels. Yesterday I visited a Year 10 and a Year 9 class at Rangiora High School. Having read some poems, I got them collectively making one up themselves. I really enjoyed the poetry energy when the lines started flying. Cheers!

From 10RKO

Rangiora

Seagulls flying high all day
clean wind whistles
paved jungle of machinery
scuffed up footpath
urban land
wind whispers
sun shining
a metallic desert
worn down houses
twisting clouds dance
friendly faces smiling
fresh air
erecting from the rubble
earthquake saved so many,
soon there will be a Pak ‘N Save.

Rain

Dark cloudy
falls so fast
round and wet.

Coming down rowdy
small, but falls loudly.

It starts, the flowering
buds light up.

From 9HVV

Mountain

Mass of grey
towering above
standing tall

it stands tall, over all

Rocky ridges,
abseilers hoisting down
moist slippery slopes

Large rocks tumbling
snow sliding down the ridges
stocky mountaineers accepting challenges
foggy clouds loom overhead,
mountain oysters.

Rangiora

Bustling street
empty street
skid marks down the road
boy racers causing trouble

Demolition centre
Saturday supporters

Big blue
blue bus travelling
sheep grazing in fields

Standing tall in rubble,
rumble of the diggers echo
across the plains.