Page 46 - Herioter 2021

S2 voice protest Stranger Scotland’s Bins

through poetry A sea of self-consciousness, Oh, these diligent bins,
They take away your right of self-expression,
Working so painfully hard.
But still others will treat you like an alien.
You don’t think the same. Yet people reject them,
English pupils in S2 studied poetry that You don’t act the same. Trample over their work without a second thought.
highlighted the diversity of multiculturalism and You don’t look the same. Oh, such enduring bins,
people living in Britain, with much of the poetry Come back the day after expecting something to 15,000 tonnes on the streets you sought to keep
linked to recent events such as the Grenfell Tower change, clean!
fire and the removal of the Edward Colston statue No-one makes an effort to understand your pain. That’s 50 kelpies worth!
in Bristol. The unit ended with pupils writing their When you feel like a stranger in the four walls of To be able to stay sane as 475 pieces are dropped
own protest poem about an issue or cause that education, every minute,
mattered to them. Some of these are published You are the product of alienation. Right in front of you,
below. They pretend to welcome you from your planet, Trashing the piece of art you made.
With their brains filled with backhanded
compliments,
The Bane of Fish The cowardliness of their words and torment To have the people spend £46 million
Comes from a place of self-consciousness and On what you could not do,
Picture a beach, a warm, sandy beach on a sunny upset. You must feel so guilty.
summer’s day. Eventually, you will be numb to their disgusting But it is not your fault!
The cool wind plowing in your face, comments We are the ones at fault,
As you tuck into a delicious picnic. They’ll realise you are stuck in your mind now We selfish beings should be grateful for your work.
But just before you bite into that tasty sandwich, lifeless. So don’t be guilty and please stay strong.
You look around and spot some rubbish, You’ll never think the same.
And not just some rubbish, You’ll never act the same. Gum, wrappers, bottles and cigarettes.
A whole beachful of trash. You’ll never look the same. Oh bins, defeat these sworn enemies,
You are not the same. And the streets will be safer.
Micro plastics to bottles to crisp packets. Carry on your work, we beg of you.
Everywhere you look in the oceans, Martha Trotter (S2)
You will find these plastics. Abraham Yu (S2)
These people are under attack,
Under fire from the trillions of pieces of plastic, You’ve Picked the Wrong Girl
Fired from our bins.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been slain I swear to god:
By the curse of our plastic waste. I’ll swear louder than the tops of my stretched
swollen lungs.
But these poor people undergo more than just I’ll tie knots in your slimy shallow tongues,
that, It’s quite a simple thing to grasp,
We scoop these people right out from their homes That if you shout at me in the street,
With massive nets to bring them up to surface To do a spin upon my feet,
Away from family and friends. If you brush your hand against my knee,
They feel stress and pain, And label me a piece of meat.
And yet we just let them suffocate Put your whistles in your pockets.
On the deck of the ship Force your eyes back in your sockets.
Till they die. Spin on your heels and curve your tongues into
a curl.
Why can’t we just leave them alone? I will say this only once so listen up:
You’ve picked the wrong girl.
Manow Drysdale (S2) Lucie Edwards (S2)
Children at WAC get into the Christmas spirit

Alexa Dunning (P4) Corrado Crolla (P4) Elisa Staal (P4) Katie Lee (P4)
44