2022: International Year of Glass

2022 has officially been named as the International Year of Glass by the United Nations. In order to celebrate this, the Poet Laureates have written poetry using glass as their inspiration.

KS3 Poet Laureate - Lilia Stone

Tiny sand grains,

Which are silica crystals and rock remains.

Bunch together shoulder to shoulder,

Minute by minute getting older and older.

The process begins, with the sand at the start,

The heat gets added, the first part.

Slowly it gradually rises in heat,

Then the making of glass is almost complete.

As the liquid cools down,

It turns into glass, clear all around.

It can be moulded until it's hard,

Until it's dropped; it smashes into shards.

Smooth, reflective, clear and more,

Light bounces off onto the floor.

The sand from rocks eroded away,

Now glimmers brightly in the light of day.

KS4 Poet Laureate - Lois Knight

The Year of Glass

Reflects the past and all that shines right through,

Whether that’s a goal, achievement or

Something you found

There's a story of me and of you.

A story doesn't have to be told to be heard,

Nor seen in the spotlight of the moment,

But a reflection in the eyes,

or transparency of a soul.

The year is your own component.

KS5 Poet Laureate - River of a Glass Goddess

I know you hear my voice,

Through iron choice may be so

But my voice, to you, I know you know

Do you still watch the flowers pass?

From bloom to lush

To Perish and Dust

How about the streaming tide

Of my open heart you took refuge inside?

Do you see the colours of a falling man

Along the lone valley of this soul?

Your tongue as a breeze

Whilst these tender words

Ease from your chest like a cherub bird

In clearest grey.

Flying, flying, further away.

The field becomes no more than the plague

I miss you, don’t leave me this way!

Now, poultry of skin crawls out the moss

With hungered beasts. Turning and tossing

In my bed, I hear your voice once more

Don’t make a sound, just lock the door.