Two Poems by Aleksandar Savic and Vojislav Bogosavljevic
submitted by Svetlana Gavrilovic, Serbia
Aleksandar Savic is a freshman at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Vojislav Bogosavljevic is a first grader of Uzice Grammar School, Uzice, Serbia.
Menu
Background
Benefits of a Language Course Abroad
Witches’ Curse
I'm sending two poems written by my students. What they have in common except is humour and the mastery of language. The first one is three years old. It was written when Aleksandar was 17, and it was an entry to a competition organised by a travel agency that specialises in English courses abroad. Needless to say, he won it. It goes so well, I think, with what you do at Pilgrims. The second one is new and unpublished, though we plan to publish it in the next issue of our ELTA newsletter.
I hope you'll like them. I'm also sending the link to our latest issue.
www.britishcouncil.org/serbia-elta-newsletter-2011-february.htm
Kindest regards,
Svetlana Gavrilovic
Gather, my friends, and listen
To the story of studying abroad;
It will make your imagination glisten!
You can trust me, I am no fraud.
So there I was, sitting in the plane,
Which was to take me to the UK.
I thought to myself: “Am I quite sane?”
“Nah”, I concluded, “So let’s sway!”
Venturing through a misty cloud,
I made the most solemn vow:
“I will perfect my English!” I swore out loud.
A man who I awoke replied, don’t ask how.
Soon we reached a place across the sea,
A delightful haven fit for a lord.
And when I saw people sipping tea,
I was certain, I’ve arrived to Oxford.
Once we got down
I gazed in every possible way:
Before me lay a marvelous little town,
Which amazed me more day after day:
Once you get up, and stretch your legs,
Your day can truly begin.
For breakfast, you get bacon and eggs,
You feel like the rest of English kin.
And on my course, a truly merry bunch:
A guy from Zimbabwe, a Cuban comrade and a girl from Greece,
The chubby German always eager to have lunch
And the hippy kid calling for peace.
One day I was thinking
Of the time I had lost home in classes.
Here to learn English you needn’t start blinking,
Carry piles of books and inch-thick glasses.
Here it is all normal,
For talking and chatting words are tools.
It’s not at all stiff and formal,
You are not tortured with shallow grammar and rules.
Learning English is no mean feat,
I can tell you that much for sure,
Yet when you sense Oxford’s beat,
You find for your speaking problems a cure.
But you look so tired now,
As if you were digging up a trench…
Heads up, and hear how
I ended up learning French!
No? If you’re sure then OK,
It’s your loss, not mine.
I do hope anyway,
You liked this story just fine.
Aleksandar Savic
The sun rose up, smiling.
What more to say?
It was a beautiful start
Of a beautiful day.
A young witch opened her eyes,
Stretched in her bed,
Looked through the window;
“Beautiful”, she said.
Among witches and warlocks
She had acquired fame:
Elegant, potent and young;
Lina was her name.
It was Monday
And she loved to work;
Also, at home
She didn’t want to lurk.
The young witch got up
And took a shower,
Said good-bye to her owl
And went out of her tower.
Lina stopped… and went back,
Laughing: “How silly of me!”
Because she forgot
Her wand and purse, you see.
After she took the things,
With a smile on her face
She went out again,
But they got erased.
Lina stopped, again…
“What the heck?!”
She frowned,
And went back.
She knew where to search:
In the living-room,
On the table were the keys
Of her broom.
For the first time
She didn’t like being old-school:
Vacuum cleaners are started with a push of a button,
And she needed keys for her broom.
“Never mind”, she thought
And went into first gear;
Then she checked if there was anything else
That could have disappeared.
The doors of Lina’s home exploded
And she stepped back in once more;
From the shelves to her left she took
The manual – “Book of Lore”.
Lina sat on her broom and asked herself:
“Can this get any worse?!”
When she noticed that were missing
Her wand, keys, book and purse!
She was startled:
She knew it couldn’t get any worse –
She was going to lose everything,
She was afflicted with the witches’ curse!
Defeated, Lina thought:
“Of all punishments, is this the worst?”
What drew her attention:
Came from behind her - a burst.
A burst of laughter!
Rolling on the grass and crying,
Her friends were laughing so intensely,
Lina thought they were dying.
Of all of them, young and old,
One stood up and said: “Lina, hey!
Don’t worry, we’re only joking –
It’s April Fools’ day!”
All of the witches were laughing,
Including Lina,
The only thing she bore in mind
Was - she had to be the winner.
A flash occurred,
And moments after,
All you could hear
Were frogs croaking and Lina’s laughter…
Vojislav Bogosavljevic
The Train the Trainer course can be viewed here
|
