The Warrior of Winter

A few years ago I had a student called Bridie at Redcliffs School. Bridie was a beautiful young lady who was so incredibly shy that she did not speak. However, what she wrote spoke volumes and, through this, she gradually came out of her shell. This morning we examined a poem by Bridie that had been inspired by Ted Hughes. This enabled Room 12 to do by far their best shared writing of the year - how far we have come!!

Louie
He piles high his victims
Listing them with remorse
Why did they withstand him?

Breaching peace to fall to sorrows
He marched headstrong colliding with warmth
Icy rivers of bitterness flood unprepared pastures
Land they once favoured becomes a Ghetto.

He stains the sky, inflicting pain
Raucous moans echo on the eddying wind
Darkness descends upon a parched desert
Of long dead moisture.

 

Ngaire
The warrior edges forward,
His fear lingers,
He draws his sword,
Displays it to his enemy.

She smiles,
Conceals her fright,
She strikes,
Angry,
And his army falls,
Although he still stands,
He abandons his hope,
And crashes to the trampled ground.

Light approaches,
Oblivious to the devastation,
Melts his armour,
And destroys his icy crown.

Amelia
He meets his enemy
Facing him as oblivion comes over his face
Quickly they prepare their weapons for battle
And take position on the field.

They swarm into a collision
Swords reflecting the light of the sun
Revenge lingers
The ice castle crumbles.

Lightning strikes, scarring the sky
He falls to the ground
Concealing his anger.

Jaden
Two giant elements at war
Claiming the sky and land
Troopers following along behind, fully armed.

At last they meet
All ready for battle
With the soldiers of ice and troopers
Brushing off the dust.

"Charge!" they command
Soldier vs. trooper, element vs. element
With swords clashing together
Suddenly a huge collision happens
Causing an explosion
Leaving debris behind from the snow beast.

 

Sophie
The battlefield is unusually silent
Fear lingers
As a warm breeze brushes him
He knows she is coming.

He prepares his weapons
They stride forward, concealing their fear
They draw their swords
She angrily strikes
Her enemy falls.

As light seeps in
Forcing its way through the rubble
Melting the warrior's armour
The warrior lays still.

Finn
Ruthless warriors preparing their weapons
Howling winds stirring up trouble
As shapeless warriors invade the battlefield
Beginning to drop one by one into pools of blood.

Icy winds blowing
Forcing down the enemy like a game of ten pin bowling
Leaving the kings to duel with swords like light
Flashing in the moonlight
Standing tall and strong
Winter is defeated
Leaving icy debris to melt.

Braeden
The silence of the battlefield
It lures us in
Prepared for chaos
Lightning flashing swords, hitting their armour.

The warrior ventures forward following by the icy wind
The icy army attacks again
The battle has ended.

Adam
Silence is unknown in this village of despair
Where hope no longer lingers
A hostage of the ancient warrior
Is what no one wants to be.

The volume escalates
With cracks of noise
Gleaming swords
And hopeless souls of soldiers.

A beam of hope appears
Slowly growing brighter
A final blow brings peace and tranquility
As he crumbles in the heat.

 

Isabella

Silence, silence is all that's heard

It lures them in

Just to face devastation

A cold breeze goes through the warrior's bones.

It raises its sword

Preparing to charge

For the battle of chaos

Trying to look for a symbol of hope.

They charge

Clashing swords creating sparks of light

Incessant fighting

But ones ruthlessness takes over

Annihilating anyone in their path.

As many fall, the strong hearted stand

Melting the icy crown

And piercing the armour of the ruthless.