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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
CREATIVE WRITING
ARTWORK — OLIVER RICHES (YEAR 10)
Alexander Poli (Year 10) Solace
The Darkness of Winter
Henry Armstrong (Year 9)
The wood is chopped, the fire is lit; we sing dirges around the fire
as the sun sets, chased by the great wolf of the dark; a horse lies dead upon the track, one of our own, a piece of the owner’s soul torn from him too early – such is the life of a nomad too early the sun sets, too early the rug of the dark covering all underneath it; Winter comes and brings little mercy, a number of our flock lie dead:
Solace, in the dank, cool, dark of a cellar Where toads make their nest. Solace, in the tall shelves of a library, Book-musk filling the air like holy incense. Solace on the peak of a mountain, The sound of a gong ringing through the crystalline air. Solace in the arms of a lover, Soft words descending like a blanket. Solace in the thrall of death,
those whose wool had not grown enough to keep the knife of frost from their skin; we do not think we will wake in the morning; we treat every night like our last but we wake up: the cold, the bringer of death, is the only thing keeping us alive – such is the life of a nomad we have not seen our wives and children since harvest, we will not see them until Beltane, but we are bound by our horses and our knives and our kinship: a bond stronger than any ice could try to break; the sun rises; he has outrun the wolf. Such is the life of a nomad.
Rest only an eyelid away. Solace on the open sea, Where you are as large as the sky.
ARTWORK — HAYATO FUJISAWA-VAN BENSCHOTEN (YEAR 7)
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