Bravery
By Kaarthik, Year 10
The vignettes below by Kaarthik were composed for the Story Factory Giving Shop, a poetry installation run at the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025. The installation was based on the idea that a well chosen poem is the perfect gift to share with someone special. Story Factory asked young people in Western Sydney to write poems that celebrate their favourite things about the people they love. In a series of creative workshops, young people from Story Factory’s Year of Poetry wrote about raucous laughs, resilience and everything in between.
They say bravery only comes when in deep fright
Like the sound of tides that only crash at night
But you, all the time, possess that might.
― Kaarthik
Because there are ones who survive in an apocalypse
Because there are customers at a store open for 24 hours
Because metal magnets attract all the time
Because I will always have a friend like you
― Kaarthik
Students and Story Factory staff at The Giving Shop