We are excited to present the works of two students of the SLP Creative Writing Club: “Silhouettes and Sea Air” by Charlotte H. and “Sea of Lights” by Coco S., both grade 7.
Charlotte and Coco performing their poem during the whole-school concert, arts festival at MIS, June 18. (Catherine Haseneder/ MIS)
They wrote their poems during the storm that flooded the cafeteria and the tunnel and many other places in Starnberg a while ago. In addition, Mr. Lemoigne, the leader of the Creative Writing Club, inspired them with some pictures from Gilles Cappodoro a French Photographer, and music from Erik Satie.
To truly immerse yourself in their artistry, we encourage you to listen to the accompanying audio, in which the students perform their poems themselves.
Silhouettes and Sea Air by Charlotte H.
Photograph by courtesy of Gilles Cappodoro.
They say that Monaco’s coasts are haunted.
Haunted by silhouettes of people who lost their lives, taken by the swallowing, hungry, ice-cold ocean waves.
The woman with a puffy mass of curly hair who stands, hands poised on slender hips, looking out at the waves as if searching for something she lost. Who did not see the rock from the loose cliff tumble down.
The young girl, caught on a sandbank by the ocean while looking for shells. Running, to the coast, im a vain attempt to save herself from the waves that swallowed her. But she lost the gamble between girl and ocean.
The little boy who slipped on the pathway lining the cliffs above the sea while running under a archway with a bucket full of pebbles and shells. He should have been more careful.
The woman who stands at a bay, hands tangled through her hair with waves like bleached beach sand. She didn’t feel the shove from behind.
The boatman sitting in his silhouette-boat, gazing out at the horizon. His boat shook under storm-wind one day, making his boat not out of wood but out of shadows, and his mortal body lost to the waves.
The trumpet-player, singing his soft sweet brass tones out onto the ocean waters. Broken heart, healed after the flight of salvation into the rocks and the water.
Their silhouettes still live on where they last were before they were taken by the ocean, and serve as a reminder of who they were. They are not forgotten.
If you go to Monaco one day, look for a silhouette-
Under a cliff
On a sandbank
Under a old stone archway
In a quiet bay
Out on the ocean
On a cliff over the sea
They are still there, waiting for someone to greet them and say hello to take away their loneliness. The loneliness that nags at their memory.
Don’t forget them.
Listen to Charlotte reading her poem:
Sea of lights by Coco S.
Photograph by courtesy of Gilles Cappodoro.
I am the crisp wind,
I am the vicious waves,
I am the dark shadows,
I am free
I am the soul inside of nature
I am the heart of every city
I am who I want to be
I tangle your hair
I wrestle the seas
I whisper through streets, seamlessly
I am free
I glide I dance I control the waters
I throw ocean into the air
I am who I want to be
Some people call me pure destruction
Some call me beauty
I am free
I rustle leaves I play with the dirt
I wear my dress of rain and life
I am who I want to be
I bring life to the city
With no me clouds of dull would creep over the town
I am free
I am what makes the ocean bubble with freedom
I am the sky tears of pure happiness
I am who I want to be
I am the fresh wind
I am the beautiful waves
I am the squaring shadows
I am me
Photograph by courtesy of Gilles Cappodoro.
Listen to Coco performing her work: