As part of the Ext(reme) Writers learning about using of sensory, descriptive and figurative language, they explored the many different landscapes of Otari-Wilton Bush.

This experience then lead to poetry that would entertain, challenge, and/or engage an a reader. Please enjoy some of the students' writing below.

Fallen trees lie dead

A new generation sprouts

The cycle of life

Florence Langford

The gust.

It crashes and gushes.

Striking the land,

Toppling trees and flattening ferns.

Like a train it ploughs through the forest.

The breeze.

It drifts and glides

Calmly brushing the land,

Tapping trees and flowing over ferns.

Like water, it trickles through the forest.

Aden Winther

A tree, held up by

The beauty of nature herself,

Water stirs beneath

Louis Rendle

Light comes and goes,

temporarily expelling the shadows, and then

letting them roam

across the ancient trees

overseeing this thriving biome.

Gwen Dunning

Reality is a storm,

Of pain and wisdom

Facing danger

Bringing light

Elsa Johnston

A Journey
The drop is high
From above the canopy
As I am shown the edge I clench in fear
I am dropped over the edge spinning like a ballerina
I push through the ferns trying not to be caught
Finally touch down onto the muddy ground
On a ray of sun.

Juliet Boys

The silence is like a canvas waiting to be painted on, every sound a new brush of colour, every bird’s whistle a touch more detail. Even with my eyes closed, I can see a picture, only I will ever see, my imagination twisting the sounds until they form a paradise, my paradise. These are the songs of the birds, open to interpretation every word spoken, brushed from someone’s lips, it is a new sound to add to my painting, every image I only see with my eyes, everything I say only with my brain, is a picture of my heart, that will change yet always be the same.

Sienna Granland