The English Department
A day of music by James White, Year 10 It’s dawn The sun glimmers over a frosty hill A jogger on her path, with a rock song to empower her Blazing and thrashing with blistering force Thrilling voices and rhythms pushing her on Pounding her eardrums, energetic and ecstatic She completes her run. It’s early morning On a busy road a commuter crawls through traffic Stuck in his car he searches for relaxation Turning up the radio, a melody grows Evolving, playful, so joyous and free Harmonies soar, the sweet soul music flows The song carries him to work. It’s noon In the warmth of a rehearsal room A duo sings together, intertwining, as one Notes dancing and darting with rhythms so sublime Connecting, elated, alive Two voices rejoicing As the audience arrives. It’s late A family sits in the beautiful church With purpose and devotion, the choirmaster guides them Melodies ascending and falling, like the clear chimes of bells The family listens, entranced. It’s evening A couple enters the hall hand in hand Excited and expectant as the conductor appears The symphony begins quietly, an elegant tune\ Then the orchestra bursts into life, joyous in the echoing space Suddenly stern and powerful, then subtly delicate The melody carries the young lovers away. It’s night He’s restless, rolling and fidgeting Reaching for his headphones for some relief from the dark Soft sounds of the forest begin to fill his ears The rustle of leaves, the call of the birds As a marimba’s sweet tone soothes his mind He drifts off to sleep. As the choristers perform sacred Evensong Angelic and graceful, notes drift to the skies
2025 Poetry competition
Winners
A Walk in the Woods by Oscar Williams, Year 7
Trees like skeletons, with their withered, naked bones, sway lifelessly like puppets on a string,
Mighty were they in their glory days, tall and proud like kings and queens. Moist leaves which once clothed them now mock them at their feet,
Yellow seeping from their every pore, Their majestic reign ended once more. We walk on. Lonely birds, the camouflage of their nests cruelly stolen, continue on their quest, Circling above, circling above, circling above. Their squawks, like human cries, echo through the silence,
Like bullets across the sky, As the day’s end draws nigh. We walk on. The blanket overhead stripped of colour: its greyness sneering with contempt, Its hues of blue erased from memory. The biting cold pierces the soul like a sharpened dagger, It shows no mercy with its embrace, Banishing the warmth in disgrace. We walk on.
Artwork by Emil Veselinovich (Year 13)
Artwork by Sam Nevin (Year 11)
CREATIVE WRITING
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THE ALLEYNIAN 713
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