Name: Rebekah Burgess
country : New Zealand
I am from Wellington, New Zealand where I am studying to be journalist. My
passions are writing, music and reading. I have done many things in my 23
years: milked cows, ridden racehorses and visited my birthplace in England.
But the thing that is most important to me is my ability to express myself
through my writing.
I was originally from England, but moved to New Zealand when I was very
young. It has taken a long time to discover what's in my heart, but the
journey has been great. I have been writing poetry for 8 years, and writing has always been dear to me.
My other passions are music and photography. I'm now in
Wellington completing a Journalism course. The city scares me, but it's the
first step to fulfilling my goal of covering the Big Day Out. Having my
stories published in the local papers has given me the courage to believe in
my poetry. I never thought it was good enough, but now I know I was wrong.
We Are 
Accept the pain, and the joy
of the realization that
everything
shapes who we are today.
No matter how trivial,
Or how hurtful,
Or how shameful.
We have learnt.
and live today with
the knowledge
of one more experience.
Time
As a child,
Time stretched ahead
Christmas was ages away,
And a year had no end.
As we grow into our shoes,
The end gets closer and closer
And our mind is able to see,
Ten years is a long time.
Time moves on,
The end is not so impossible
The years are like minutes,
And Christmas comes too soon.
There are gasps around:
“That year went so fast!”
But time is constant.
It is our perception that changes.
Why not look through a child’s eyes?
So eager, unassuming
Never looking too far ahead
That’s why they can’t see the end.
The Homeless Man
Like the old man, ragged on the street
but oh no, he doesn’t see me
looking from the outside, of his world
he’s got no home, no bed
just a doorway down the road
an old coat he found one day
covers him in the night.
It seems so sad to me
but maybe he likes his world
no complications, no people
no one to fill his head with lies
no commitments, nothing to do
just wander, fleetingly
pausing…for a moment
to watch the birds fly by
or a child, in the park
who looks at him, with beady eyes:
“sir, why don’t you have any shoes?”
and the man said:
“I found them too difficult to walk in.”
Change
Surely, deep down inside
we must realize
That no one, ever
can truly know us.
Know our thoughts, our reasoning with ourselves.
the thoughts that make each perception; each day
change.
Ah! Change!
The thing that scares everyone
Nothing lasts forever!
Nothing!
No moment can ever be as perfect,
or as awful
as the moment when it is.
Nothing is ever the same
and how can we ever remember?
When in old age
remembering
is gone.
The Girl
It’s piling on top of everything, but through it all
I can see a figure
on top of a hill,
Looking down, surveying the damage.
It makes no difference to her
she made it out
amidst crumbling walls
crushing the weak to the ground.
She considers the turmoil, not a weakness
but an advanatage.
Leaving her ready for a fight
at the next sign of collapse.
She knows it’ll happen again,
but next time she’ll be ready.
Armed with the knowledge that gives her
the power,
and the will to succeed.
Not in monetary values,
but the ultimate goal
of happiness.
Society So Perfect
Society so perfect,
Glass walls surrounding mankind.
The things we push under the carpets
Are “not to be discussed at the dinner table.”
Fences and houses and white fluffy slippers
serve as safeguards,
Surely they can protect us?
From the wrongs that lie behind those eyes.
Society forgets the committed crimes.
We are only human, after all
And if we go to bed by 9pm,
Nothing can touch us.
Dependency,
it is a blessing
If only one looked further
the realization might dawn,
Nothing is certain.
And listening to the news at 6
provides a temporary bubble
that could burst at any stage.
The Need
It’s like a plague
feeding on everyone’s minds.
We need more…information.
We take what we get,
never question.
We follow…because everyone else does.
As a country
aren’t we ashamed?
The rift grows…between families
and severs
our self-worth.
We can’t even hear what we think.
We’re too bothered
with more knowledge.
We prey…and leap
to our own destruction.
