Vignettes
By Ives, Year 11
The vignettes below by Ives 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.
The anger rears like an ancient car’s broken engine
Gentle horses leap, hooves rise and subside in the edenic
wonderland we call your mind.
Attempting to alleviate my guilt;
Your quiet words sing out like a lullaby
And I know I am forgiven
― Ives
You tiptoe around my praises
with the trembling legs of a ladybug
Deeming the intricate masterpiece of your work
‘substantial’.
Your words unfurl with caution
You ruffle like an exotic bird’s patterned feathers
Understatedly proud, lovingly grateful.
― Ives
Students and Story Factory staff at The Giving Shop