2020 School Magazine

ANOTHER DISCOMBOBULATED YOUTH (EXTRACT) When I first started writing I wrote in the most pretentious voice I possibly could I was deeply convinced that long words were the best way to convey intricate meaning That they were the only way to acquire literary meaning Mainly because I was deeply terrified That power could come in the smallest of words I had never learnt how to adequately manipulate small words Because they didn’t require the welding and warping of complex vocabulary Which I had mastered from years of attempting remarks beyond my age or wisdom Simpler words had seemed a waste of air when I had a deck of shiny cards at my disposal Somewhere along the way, simpler words seemed blunt and garish Almost unsociable and inconsiderate, to say something with no fashion or disguise I scorned those that did so with twisted superiority In my future a day would come where my teacher would toss me into the deep end And teach me that simple words can have equal power Power is in persuasion, positioning and perspective I still can’t decide whether I would rather be the adult That regrets not living while they were young Or the one that regrets wasting their precious hours At melancholy ecstasy fuelled gatherings rather than tucked away at a desk Youth is a minority in my life I will spend multiple decades middle-aged and yet only two in youth Perhaps that makes using those fewer minutes for pleasure more justifiable Or perhaps it reasons for spending my time building a better leg-up Perhaps it reasons for working hard so the last few decades of my life I can afford a McMansion with a grecian backdrop and a handsome manservant Instead of rotting away, as the only elderly in the home that retains their childlike quickness of mind Because of a hyperactivity disorder and an awareness complex My generation really enjoys a good layer of gloss But what is gloss but a clear shiny layer over something that is actually quite plain I feel that summarises us quite nicely, blocks of plain pantone colour Coated in something shiny to make us feel juicy and plump as we go about our days I am eternally confused I have a ‘stop, start, go, pause, correct, confuse, question, answer, continue,’ kind of thought process This ending will seem abrupt, I hope it encompasses everything you have just read A tasting of my thought, a sprinkling of my fascinations Pictures I love to paint and people I love to picture I love people dear reader, which in turn means I love you I love every person I have ever watched because I have stolen tiny traits of theirs And they’ve let me make them my own This is my love letter to a selection of everything that has made me smile The mad hatter and the cheshire cat, my mother’s stories, baked goods and printed portraits I love lots of things, but I especially love words Thank you for reading mine. Scarlett McLellan (10H) WINNER OF THE DORIS TOWNSEND (WARAKER) BURSARY—LYRIC POETRY

120 | BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2020