Creative Clarence

9 February 2023 - Clarence

It has been a busy term so far in Clarence, with the usual plays, music concerts, Caledonian Society events to name just a few things. The focus in the last two weeks has very much turned to mocks, and I have been incredibly impressed and proud of how the girls have managed themselves throughout this process. I know that they will be spending much of Long Leave revising, however we have also been thinking of different ways to take some well deserved time out. Getting creative has been part of that, please enjoy the wonderful pictures, poems and book reviews that follow as a brief insight into the creativity of Clarence, and all that remains is for me to wish you a lovely Long Leave!

Pods by Rose

My daughter’s lost an earphone.

Do you mean a pod? Oh yes, those are very valuable.

Yes, well they keep her quiet. 

Laughter 

Hollow, questioning.

Blank eyes, glazed over, thoughtless.

Checked out people facing each other but not seeing 

Checked out like the third pair of tortoiseshell sunglasses in their shopping basket

With ‘pods’ popped in ears as deafening as other things that pop; balloons.

Part of the building desensitisation

People don’t care

It starts with sounds, the surrounding hum of humanity 

HUMANITY

Real life

Suppose it doesn’t really matter if you don’t care about the sounds

But then if you don’t care about the sounds, you start to not care about the people

Listening to someone else’s words

“Wonder if you look both ways when you cross my mind”

But not wondering

Surface depth

Maybe when they hear that someone does cross their mind 

But only for a fleeting moment

Before the next lyric continues the rhythm so the person can submerge their consciousness in the comforting emptiness of the beat and the tune

Primitive dislocation of thought and obedience to the passivity of the brain, looking for any excuse not to think, not to confront the deep rooted uncertainties within 

A pre-recorded song

A captured moment in time 

Someone was physically there, shaping those words with their mouth, creating those sounds

Or was it auto tune? Just a bit of editing, it’s still owned by that human, it’s their intellectual property.

Even though part of it is a computer’s voice.

Anyway we can’t blame the people for their desensitisation.

That’s part of the whole thing, we can’t blame anyone for anything. 

No tangible human to use as a scapegoat, despite what politicians suggest to service their campaigns.

Just pop your AirPods back in. 

Colin the Caterpillar is a favourite in Clarence and while the pupils have been taking mocks each house took some time out of revision to write some Haiku’s for Colin

Finally, with Long Leave coming up Tori Fearnhead has some books she recommends for you to read

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley’s novel, as described by The New York Times, is ‘a rare story to pass from literature into myth’ and is largely responsible for the popularisation of the gothic genre. The story is primarily narrated by Robert Walton, who records Frankenstein’s life and stories of his supernatural creation as he tells it to him. Frankenstein is so much more than Hollywood will have you believe; it is not a ghost story, but an exploration of humanity, loneliness, and creation.

This is the perfect short, rainy-day read (especially if there’s lightning). Mary Shelley’s writing is absolutely beautiful and leads you to feel a complicated ambiguity towards both Frankenstein and the monster. This book is the gateway-drug into classic fiction as it is accessible and engaging, while also exemplifying the marvellous writing that the classics are known for.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Mystical and fantastical, this book is truly wondrous. The novel follows a young man, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, who finds a book with a story from his life written in it. When he was 11 years old, he found a wall with a painted door to (unbeknownst to Zachary) the Starless Sea – the place where stories begin and end, a labyrinth below ground. Zachary is immersed in this magical world and must save it from ruin. Although the plot was slow-moving and at times confusing, it draws you in and rewards you for your patience by the end.

My biggest complaint with this book is that it ended. It is a love letter to all readers, everyone who never got their Hogwarts letter, who obsesses over secret societies, and who are still waiting for their adventure. This is a story where pirates are metaphors, the Moon has a lover, Fate and Time are personified, and there are stories within myths within fairy tales. Erin Morgenstern’s writing is what every author aspires to: enthralling and all-encompassing, where every minor detail has meaning. This book was 5 stars (pun intended).  

Happy Reading!