December 1952 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

December, 1952

December, 1952

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

BURNT STUBBLE Thi s was the ye ll ow wheat , this field That once was fluid gold , ' · W hen the restless hands of the hot north wi nd Plucked at each wav ing fold. Thi s was a cloth of go ld brocade . Flung down on the redcb rown so il ; Th1 s was the bounteous harvest , pride Of man 's own sweat and toil. He re in a shelte red forest dwe lt A thousa nd crawling things, Safe in the shade of s turdy sta lks From th e frightening beat of w ings. Stark ebon now, as though some giant Care less ly had thrown Black in k upon a painted scene, Despoiling it unknown . Here on the charred carpet lie Grotesque fantastic forms, The little things that crept and craw led- The li zards, rabbits, worms. Bereft, the w ind breathes acrid breath Over the desolate scene And s ighs and soughs through blackened sta lks Where the stubbl e fire ha s been .

THE HAIL-STORM, 17th OCTOBER. Have you ever noticed how silver a white building seems in the distance ::> I became surprisedly aware of this fact one afternoon while walking along Wickham Terrace. To begin with, the da y was unu?ual. That was the after- noon of the hail storm. We had watched excitedl y as the smal l pellets of hail bounced off the roof the Fourth-Fo rm wing and the cottages. At that moment everyone in Brisbane was doing precisel y the same thing-gazing at the spectac le-and each one wou ld later remark to his neighbour in the tram , " Did you see the hail-storm::>" knowing full wel l that he did , and each one was prepared t o wake up next morning and read interestedl y m the morning papers that " There was a ha i1-storm in Brisbane yesterday. " Thi s unusual event of a hail-storm had had strange effects on the sky. In the indes cribable light after hail , or even mundane rain , the clouds, banked up above me were dis - tinctly fa w n , with patches of darker brown in shadows . Below me Central Station was pa lled by black smoky cloud , w here people hurried about , scarcely stopping to notice the cl ouds o r the sky. Further distant , the large offi ces of the city rose up , misty in the unusual light . The city from that height , looked calm . Indeed it did " like a garment wear the beauty after the hail- storm," if one could forget that bel ow, in the streets, trams were rattling along thei r lines . And still further on, past the smoke on the railway, past the qloomy buildings, what was probabl y the top of another building stood out strangely amongst the others. It seemed a little w hite house floating above the city, and in that unusual light , the white gleamed like silver. -Jill Farrar , V SONNET To walk in darkness by a silent stream; To ga z e into impe ne tra bl e space Beyond the stars, and linger ing ly to dream Of things long past; to greet th e smiling face

Alexa Tabke, II ID.

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Of morning; w ith a free , exuberan t sea To struggl e joyous ly; on th e smooth shore To wa tc h a second su nset- - these shall be Dea r memories whe n I am young no more. To ponde r on dee p myst e ri es, and sha re My ponderings w ith a kindred heart; to tal k And laugh togethe r, free f rom care; In s il ent , c lose companionship to wa lk; Th ese are swee t joys whose ve ry memo ry When I am sad or lone ly, comfor t s me .

-M. j. KIRKPATRICK, IV . A .

-D.B., V.

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