Clementine Chatto (Year 7)

Inspiration artwork: Lost in Translation Pt.2, by Alia Haider (2021)

They were young,

Oh so young,

The soldiers who went to war,

The men and boys sent to take the land,

They were young,

Oh so young,

The people who’d lived there for as long as time could remember,

The blood they shed,

The soldiers came on ships,

They came by foot,

They came by any means necessary to steal,

Any means,

The men arrived,

Their flags raised high,

The people had no choice,

The soldiers took,

They took the colours,

From the culture,

From the land,

From the people,

The people were controlled,

The soldiers controlled,

And yet they were confused when asked for independence,

This is past,

Or so we think,

The problems are not solved,

The land has not been returned,

The people have not gotten their colours back,

From their culture,

From their land,

They keep fighting,

They are old,

Oh so old,

And the battle is not finished,

Not yet.

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The Art2Words Writing Prize is an annual writing competition at The Friends’ School. Read the full list of short-listed and winning entries here.