Recently, members of Invictus VI were invited to enter a nationwide poetry competition titled: Empowered. The competition gave students far and wide the opportunity to get creative and produce a poem about empowerment and its many forms.
The competition was fierce! However, we are delighted that three Invictus Sixth Form students were successful, and were chosen to be published.
A huge congratulations to: Lakeisha Grainger, Faizaan Rehman, and Laura Southall on their success!
The 3 poems can be found below, in the order they appear in the book, "Empowered":
You Are The Dad Of The Household Now
Dear little innocent me
this news shall not give you glee
But you now have the task to be
the dad of the household, I guarantee
You and your sister will take on this task
chugging pints of beer I ask
rolling a cigarette
whilst singing old-time songs, this is something that needs
to carry on
He's sadly gone to the paradise above
but don't fret! He will fit in like a glove
he left us in his sleep with no strife
he was ready to leave us to go on and thrive
You and your sister are the dad of the household now
Although this power that is given will be a challenge
You will do him proud
while he looks down on you with the rest of the lifeless crowd.
Laura Southall (17) Invictus Sixth Form - Crestwood School, Kingswinford
The Game
Five.
When it first happened,
We were five.
Cheerful? Maybe.
Happy? Maybe.
Five.
Playful! Playful...
"It is just a game." But what is the aim?
Five years - five bites.
Five years - five strikes.
Five years - five bleeds.
"Shut up and take it. You're like five beasts."
Eight
We were flying free...
Presumably.
No care, no worry,
Hakuna Matata, you whisper to me.
What a wonderful phrase!
Wonderful. Phrase.
Of course that is all it is
Of course there is no truth to it
Of course it happens again
Eight…
Eight years - eight beats
Eight years - eight thumps
Eight years - eight lumps
Total defeat.
Next time it happens, it does not stop.
By this point, we lose track of time,
I think we are ten?
No, eleven.
No, twelve.
No.
Thirteen!
Weak. Defenceless. Thirteen.
What are we to do?
"Sit there and endure it!"
Thirteen.
Thirteen years - thirteen scars
Thirteen years - thirteen screams
Thirteen years - thirteen broken dreams.
Pitiful teens.
Sixteen.
It goes on and on and on,
I see no end to this
I feel nothing!
We cannot escape.
Trapped.
Sixteen traitorous years?
Sixteen torturous years!
We bleed, we suffer. We beg, we crumble.
But it is all in good fun,
until one of us is gone.
He was a puppeteer,
we were his puppets, that
he made sure to play with.
Eighteen.
The end is closing in, all his entertainment slipping.
A choice to be made:
To live or to die,
You know the story,
He created the game!
Eighteen strikes for us?
Ha! Ha! I laugh in your face.
Revenge.
Revenge can be a bittersweet flavour
Taste it on your tongue, like I did many times on mine.
The blood, the anguish, the pain, the
Torture.
Taste it!
Taste it!
Taste it!
Eighteen strikes for us?
I laugh. I laugh.
No.
Forty-nine strikes for him.
And just like that,
The puppeteer
Became, the puppet.
I control the game.
Lakeisha Grainger (16) Invictus Sixth Form – Crestwood School, Kingswinford
The Serpent
Whenever she returned, she saw how inescapable life's gig
was
And wondered, when will this ever end?
But trust me little birdy there's something waiting for you
around each beguiling bend.
He slithered in so often,
Stealing shells simply for sport.
But he did more than just steal, he shattered
Dreams and hopes with his green-eyed gaze.
Escaping his watchful eye seemed so futile.
Because even as she fled through the mist and haze,
Slipping past the ferns and the foxes,
Flying higher and further and faster than ever before...
He returned.
Persistence couldn't begin to describe it,
The way he seemed to appear cast in mist,
Arriving with a mental knife ready to twist.
Something had to change,
That much was very clear.
But how can you escape if it resides so very near?
Drop it. Kill it. End it.
Don't give it the chance to take control of what is clearly
yours.
Break through that puny door: your new life is waiting pretty
near.
Face it even if it hurts and reach the open frontier.
The once-powerful serpent who had total dominion,
Now lies shattered on the pavement, leaking its poisonous
lifeblood
While you stand tall, crushing its glass skull straight into the
mud.
Faizaan Rehman (16) Invictus Sixth Form - Crestwood School, Kingswinford
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