Category Archives: children

POEM: Pants

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New pants are on the scene
Have you ever seen something so supreme?
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday’s best
With a label upon its crest
A symbol of the snuggly feel
That you get from a Sunday meal
Everything in its right place
Puts a smile upon your face
Jump to the left
Hop to the right
With these pants
I’m full of might
I can do anything
In red pants of glory

I got thinking of the time when I was young and we got new clothes. The excitement, particularly of new pants. Bigger pants. They seemed to symbolise growing in age and becoming an older boy.



POEM: Tick

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Tick
Tick Tick
Tick Tick Tick
Search for a word
The hunt for a gem
An unpolished stone will not do
A crown sparkling full of sun’s light
Nothing less will make this dull poem shine
So I investigate the thesaurus as time drifts by
Tick

This poem came about as I was thinking of the struggle to find the right word as the pressure of time beats down. That pressure can lead to the mind not working, of drawing a blank and grinding to a halt, unable to progress. Writing needs to be without pressure. I also wanted to play with a constraining form so decided to write a poem where each line has one more word as it progresses downwards. This is the result. What do you think?

POEM: Contentment

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Ball of contentment
sweet dreaming of warm log fires
and a little mouse

This poem came about because I was trying out different poetry forms. I like poems with clear structures that constrain you but at the same time free you as you don’t have to worry about how many stanzas you are going to use, or what rhyme pattern you are going to go to battle with. This poem is obviously about my cat and how content he looked settle on my lap before a winter’s fire.

POEM: Words

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Words are watching you
They gather your thoughts
They tell your secrets
They spread lies
and state truths
They can break a heart
They ruin friendships
or destroy an evening
Beware words
They can imprison you
or set you free

This poem came about as I was mindlessly watching tv and thinking of the impact that certain people’s words have had on others. It got me thinking about the power of words and how easily they can be misused to create harm.

POEM: We Go A Wandering

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Photo by  Abhinav Narayan 


It is interesting how the mind works. I haven’t written any new poems for a while or posted on here but thought it was about time I did. So what to write. I decided on a poem but my brain was empty of ideas. So I went to bed having written nothing.
A bad nights sleep. I kept waking up. I woke up at 3AM, wide awake. So I decided to listen to a Frank Skinner podcast on poetry. The poet he was referencing had written a poem using ABC structure so I thought “I’ll try that!”. Then I fell happily asleep.
It was that time when you are half-awake, half-dreaming. I was dreaming of people walking in the countryside and a song/poem filled the air. I came to. The words still clear in my head. I wrote them down. I wasn’t sure of some of the words – did they even exist. I checked. Yes, they did. I had written a poem in my sleep state using real words I didn’t think I knew. How strange!
So here is that short poem.

Here we go a wandering
A trundling
A trolling
Here we go a wandering
In the glade

Trundling = to move in a wagon; to roll along
Trolling = to say in full, rolling voice

POEM: Man In The Moon

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Half moon

 

There was a man in the moon,
Who switched the lights off too soon,
Day turned to night,
All people in fright,
Running in fear of the doom.

 

This type of poem is called a limerick.  It was made popular by Edward Lear in the 19th century. I just love these types of poems. They are great fun to write because of the clear structure and rhyme pattern. 

A limerick has five lines with a clear AABBA rhyme pattern:

There was a man in the moon, A
Who switched the lights off too soon, A
Day turned to night, B
All people in fright, B
Running in fear of the doom. A

and a da-de-da-de-da, da-de-da-de-da, de-da-de-da, de-da-de-da, da-de-da-de-da rhythm to it.

Why don’t you have a go?

There are more examples here: https://www.brownielocks.com/kidlimericks.html

Write-30 No.62

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Write 30

Free Choice.

Write about anything you want. It could be about your day, about a TV programme, a computer game, in fact anything you want.

STUCK?   Try this idea: The hardest thing I have ever done is…

What is Write – 30?
Write – 30 is a daily activity where you write non-stop for twenty minutes then check and edit your work for 10 minutes. You will be asked to write about different subjects and in different forms.

The writing should be done on lined paper in pencil if possible. Edit and check the work in pen. If you don’t have paper and pencil, use what you can. Even a computer.

Finding it difficult? What you can do to help:

  • Always sit/work in the same place
  • Always use the same writing tools
  • Always turn the TV off
  • No talking – it distracts thinking
  • Always listen to the same piece of classical music when writing.
  • Always set yourself a goal: count the number of words. Try to beat that number the following day.

Write-30 No.61

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Man and woman sitting on white box

Nightmare.

What is the worst nightmare you ever had? Where did events take place? Were you in it? How did you feel during it? How did you feel after it?

STUCK?   Try this story starter:
It was the worst nightmare I ever had EVER! Worse than the one about the monster under the bed. Even worse than that time…

What’s next?

What is Write – 30?
Write – 30 is a daily activity where you write non-stop for twenty minutes then check and edit your work for 10 minutes. You will be asked to write about different subjects and in different forms.

The writing should be done on lined paper in pencil if possible. Edit and check the work in pen. If you don’t have paper and pencil, use what you can. Even a computer.

Finding it difficult? What you can do to help:

  • Always sit/work in the same place
  • Always use the same writing tools
  • Always turn the TV off
  • No talking – it distracts thinking
  • Always listen to the same piece of classical music when writing.
  • Always set yourself a goal: count the number of words. Try to beat that number the following day.

Write-30 No.60

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Man and woman sitting at table

Spell Binding.

Imagine your parents are wizards and witches and you are told never to go down to the cellar. What happens when you sneak down? What happens when you open their spell book?

STUCK?   Try this story starter:
We had always been told never to go down to the cellar, Fantasima and I, but like all kids told never to do something by their parents that just made you want to do it, to find out what all the fuss was about, what the big secret is. And our parents already had a fairly big secret. Dad is a Wizard (Grade 2) and mum a witch (Grade 1 with honours) so whatever was down there would be good.
It was their fault really. They shouldn’t have left us alone to go to a friends’ house for a coffee and cake. I know it was only for an hour but a lot can happen in an hour. It wasn’t my idea to go down there, I swear, it was Fantasima. But of course she would not get blamed, never the youngest.
Anyway, she had sneaked the key down and came to me and said, with that mischievous twinkle in her eye, waving the key before me, ‘What do you think?’

What happens next?

DID YOU KNOW? There is a book about a couple of children transported to another world called Narnia by magical rings. It is called The Magician’s Nephew by C.S.Lewis.

What is Write – 30?
Write – 30 is a daily activity where you write non-stop for twenty minutes then check and edit your work for 10 minutes. You will be asked to write about different subjects and in different forms.

The writing should be done on lined paper in pencil if possible. Edit and check the work in pen. If you don’t have paper and pencil, use what you can. Even a computer.

Finding it difficult? What you can do to help:

  • Always sit/work in the same place
  • Always use the same writing tools
  • Always turn the TV off
  • No talking – it distracts thinking
  • Always listen to the same piece of classical music when writing.
  • Always set yourself a goal: count the number of words. Try to beat that number the following day.

Write-30 No.59

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man, woman, and children on sofa

The Inspection.

Imagine the government makes a rule that all families must be inspected once a year by Home Inspectors. What would they make of your family? What comments would they write about each person in your family? Who would get top marks?

STUCK?   Try this starter:
When I expected the family I was quite shocked. I found the eldest child in their bedroom…

What happens next?

What is Write – 30?
Write – 30 is a daily activity where you write non-stop for twenty minutes then check and edit your work for 10 minutes. You will be asked to write about different subjects and in different forms.

The writing should be done on lined paper in pencil if possible. Edit and check the work in pen. If you don’t have paper and pencil, use what you can. Even a computer.

Finding it difficult? What you can do to help:

  • Always sit/work in the same place
  • Always use the same writing tools
  • Always turn the TV off
  • No talking – it distracts thinking
  • Always listen to the same piece of classical music when writing.
  • Always set yourself a goal: count the number of words. Try to beat that number the following day.