Duffy dramatics in Diversity Week

During Diversity Week, students in Year 9 were set the task of writing dramatic monologues inspired by the work of Carol Ann Duffy, the first openly lesbian poet to hold the Poet Laureate position. Poems from her collection The World's Wife were among those studied this half-term.

Some of the students dressed in costume for their poetry deliveries (pictured above). Here is one example of their work:

Lilith

I am Lilith, born of the same earth as Adam,

Not his shadow, but his equal, his match.

I refused to bow, to bend, to break,

Chose freedom over chains, my voice over silence.

My father created me with slivers of dust,

and then I met my 'lover'

He tried to dominate me, oppress me,

so, I left the prison of Adam, the prison of Eden

and watched him replace me with Eve

just another woman for him to control.

In the Garden, I was told to obey, to submit,

But my spirit roared with the need to be free.

I fled to the Red Sea, cast from paradise,

Forced to become a demon, a weaver of dark spirits,

A reluctant monster, born of defiance and despair.

People believe I found strength in myself, my abilities

beyond the restrictions of a man.

But the choice was not mine,

I would rather punish myself,

than be punished by him.

Let Eve be the rib, the compliant companion,

I am the storm, the fire, the untamed spirit.

I am Lilith, first woman, forever free,

Unbound, unbroken, unapologetically me.

By Alisha and Katie