Heatwave

If you are in the UK, no doubt you have been experiencing extreme heat.  Today's poem is a triolet about that. Triolets are a 8-line French form which follow a pattern where there are certain lines which repeat and those that rhyme. Can you spot what the form is from this poem.  I've written 4 poems with this form over time.

I've been using a seed-sprouter and some microherb seeds I bought in lockdown from Wilko in 2021.  Cannot believe I finally got around to using it.  It's pretty cool and the heat has meant the sprouted radish seeds have been growing super quickly. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with the sprouter so that the water is not trickling down in the way it should be.  After a few days, I thought it had all gone moudly as it looked like it was covered in a fine white mould but it turned out these were the roots!  The sprouts were tasty and had a real kick to them and added a great crunch to a salad.  CBC had recently mentioned he liked bean sprouts so I decided to give this a try!

Similarly, I have been growing some peashoots from some old marrowfat peas Mum gave me.

I might try chickpeas too as I have lots of old dried ones. This looks helpful

In the garden, I've already had a lot of loganberries. After giving them a stern talking to and an ultimatum of it being the last year I was going to wait, we've had a real glut! 

Last week, the Heatwave was very strange. My school closed for 2 days so I had to work from home for 2 days. The third day, my classes were not in as their rooms have no aircon and it was stifling in their rooms. It was all very weird and I felt like I was back at the start of the 2020 Lockdown feeling like the world was about to end and not sure what to do. The third day was especially hard, even though I had plenty of work and training to do. It was so, so warm in my house, I can't imagine what it was like in a higher flat with no garden or ventilation. My Internet was pretty terrible too although after stropping at Vodafone, a booster was finally sent. Friday night, CBC and I went for a swim at 6pm in our local pool which was lovely, if a bit crowded. I walked the 1.5miles home via the Chinese and spent most of the evening in the garden as the house was so unbearable. Yesterday, we went over to mum which was nice though her house was so humid as she keeps all the doors and windows shut because of the cats. 

Today, I had an all day rehearsal with Orchestra of the City for our Mahler 7 concert on Friday if anyone is in Holborn area! 

Back to school tomorrow! 

Xx

My favourite Green Pants- an Ekphastic poem

 One type of poetry I haven't tried before is an ekphrastic response or Ekphrasis. This is where you give a widely detailed commentary or imaginative response to a painting or picture.

I am not sure what prompted me to remember this photo but back in 2014, CBC and I visited Croatia for some 10 days or so and our final two days were spent in Dubrovnik and as we walked around the city walls, we spied a solitary pair of bright green pants hung from a washing line, high, high above the roofs, with an excessive 5 pegs.  Hilariously, when I think of Dubrovnik's city walls, I immeditately think of these green pants! Sorry to all the wonderful history!  

So, for some reason, a couple of weeks ago , I started writing a poem about these pants in response to my photo.

Oooooh, oooh, I've just remembered what it is!!! My insta poet friend, Amanda MacKenzie, fellow poet in the magazine with my recently published peom, posted a picture of an large number of pegs on one item.  Which then reminded me of the pants!

So, without further ado, here is my ekphrastic response to my Dubrovnik photo:

Panther Attack

 Quite a few of my poems are anecdotes that have happened to me or people I know.  Last week, for the Toy Press prompt word, Swipe, I immediately thought of when animals swipe food from where they are not supposed to.  

Suddenly, I remembered an incident that occured when I was a teenager.  We looked after one of my best friends from orchestra, Marianne's cat, Teddy for a couple of Summer holidays.  

One day, I came home with some Southern fried chicken, of the variety that KFC serve.  I was really looking forward to that chicken...

Panther attack

 

I was hungrily eating chicken (KFC), 

Eyed up by panther-grey cat Teddy.

I could blatantly see that he was ready,

And longing share this treat with me.

 

Each time he leapt up to the table

As fast as I was physically able,

These attempts I would hastily disable,

Yet he seemed imperturbable.

 

Now clearly the great smell had him hyped

My prized, crispy skin he deftly swiped!

Oh, this manoeuvre really griped! 

So I wrestled, retrieved and ate (once wiped!)

Yes, I did.  Before you ask.

I was SO annoyed at Teddy, that I did indeed wrestle him for my prized piece of chicken skin which I had been saving for last. He absolutely was not going to stop me from eating it!

xx

Break time Brouhaha

 Brouhaha (noun), a word meaning a loud outcry or public commotion. I first heard this word as part of A'Level History. My teacher, Mr Plumbe, would come out with these words I'd never heard before that I loved the meaning of. I kept a glossary or some of them and whilst some of them, I never use in common parlance (nominal vassal, anyone?), this one cropped up as the word of the week for The Toy Press last week.   Funnily enough, I immediately thought of children all crowding around and causing a brouhaha and it brought me to mind of something that happened at school last week...

I was really sad about this as two weeks ago, what looked like the same slug had made an appearance outside the music room. I pointed him out to my children (Year 2 I think) and told everyone to be careful of him/her/it/ as they went past. I got paranoid about him getting stepped on so I placed a chair over where he was as a sort of warning.  The slug stayed generally put and was the cause of much discussion.  Later, when I had got a chance, fearing for the stampede of lunchtime, I decided to relocate the slug out of danger. Job well done.

When I saw what looked like the same slug on Monday last week, I told everyone in Year 4 to mind the slug and they were all very excited about it.  Sadly, I got distracted and forgot to put protection for the slug and when I came out at lunchtime, the slug was mashed into the ground, no doubt trodden all over.

Thus, I felt it needed to be immortalised in a slightly embellished version of the story.

For the record, slugs are usually my bitter enemies due to their fondness for the contents of my veg bed but in this case, no vegetables were at threat, so I feel much more benevolent towards my slimy friends.

On the subject of poems, I had another piece of joyous poetry-related news. I had another poem accepted for a print literary magazine called Little Thoughts Press in America.  I've made three previously unsuccessful submissions to this magazine so I am really happy they have accepted the poem I wrote for their Rituals and Traditions issue.  This poem was one I wrote last Summer which I am actually going to be using for a school performance in July as it is Performance Poetry, designed to be spoken aloud.

Hope you are having a great week.  I had an irritating day as we had a polling day at school for the local elections so we were given training to do from home which would have been fine except that the internet would not work on both my laptops and I spent about 2 hours trying to troubleshoot and make alternative devices work.  Our service providers have a lot to answer for making us swap to fibre cables from our old copper ones which worked perfectly well.

xx

Slippery Frippery

There's been a few weeks without an inspiration word from The Toy Press so I was happy to see a new word last week, 'Slippery' but I was not finding much use for it! Everything I tried felt contrived and I dropped all attempts. 

Finally, I came up with the first 3 stanza but when CBC heard it, he said I needed to make more of the recovery, so I edited and extended. 

What do you think? I'm not that enamoured by it but I don't hate it! 

Slippery Frippery

The playground was icy

I had no grip,

Precariously walked, 

Took a slippery dip!

 

Head over heels,

Landed in heap,

Dignity destroyed

Embarrassment deep.

 

All Year 6 watching, 

They laughed in glee, 

Tears in my eyes, 

Really riled me. 

 

The need to save face, 

Was to style it right, how? 

Crack out the moves, 

Own the stage now! 

 

Stood up and shimmied 

Hopped and spun, 

Slid to the side,

Waved to everyone! 

 

I pranced and twisted, 

Raised arms and paused 

Smiled like an actor,

Bowed for applause. 

 

Try January

Ang was talking about her word for the year of 2026. She has a word she tries to make the focus of her year. I've not really done one before but as I read her post, I had a feeling that mine should be either be Gentle Gratitude or Reconnection.  Funnily enough, I saw the word reconnect in several contexts that day. 

Later on, I was talking to my Headteacher and Assistant head in the staff meeting on Wednesday about an assembly they did where they talked about not having resolutions but having something called Try January where they said you could try something new in January but it didn't necessarily have to stick or be permanent although you might find something that DOES stick.  (Hilariously, one of the teachers thought they were talking about Dry January to the children, which caused some consternation!).  I mentioned that I have been thinking about gratitude and saying I had decided to try and write a minimum of 5 things or small moments, most days, in a notebook so I could try and focus on positives which then gave me something to read back on when I wanted to. They liked this idea.  As I took the train home, having left my phone at home and not having my book, I decided to write a poem with some ideas for the children.

I hope you enjoy Try January and perhaps you might get inspiration from it, even if perhaps tying shoelaces isn't a new thing for you!

Try January

 

In January, I always find I fail at resolutions

They pile the pressure, hard to maintain, too much expectation.

This year, I think, I’d rather choose to ‘Try January’ instead.

Try something new for a short while, perhaps this attempt might spread?

Doesn’t have to be a forever thing, be open to giving it a go.

If you fail, don’t have to tell, no one has to know.

A gratitude diary for example, write 5 small wins each day.

Caught your bus, yummy wrap for lunch, scored a goal at play.

Try reading 10 pages most days, or talking to someone new.

Sign up for choir, learn to love peas, try a new hair do.

Try wearing yellow, draw a horse, learn times-tables, 5’s and 2’s

Try chess, go swimming, bake a cake, aim to tie my shoes.

Phone an old friend, reconnect, ACTUALLY practice the piano.

Learn to write calligraphy, choose a plant to grow.

Try meditation for quelling anger, attempt to sew a button on.

Visit the library, write a poem, learn the lyrics of that song.

Speak positively rather than moan, put my hand up if I’m shy.

The aim is not perfection BUT the aim’s just try, try, try!

If the new thing doesn’t stick, that’s fine, you knew it was only temporary.

But you might just be at the start of something great, if you just TRY January!

Gingerbread Fugitive- - a poetic anniversary!

 It's a year since I've been writing weekly poems inspired by the Toy Press's Word of the week. Here was my first one, an ode to the humble Sleigh Bells. I think I only missed one week in all 52 weeks (the word was routine!) even if I haven't posted all the poems I've written on here. It's also a bit of a milestone that I reached having written 150 poems in the past 14months or so. The good, the bad or the ugly, the process is the valuable part even if most of you don't really have much interest in children's poetry.  Many thanks to any one who has commented, positive or negative but especial thanks to my dedicated commenters who have often given me feedback over the year, Ann, Kelly, Ivana, Vix (who confesses to hating poetry!) and Sheila. 

This week's word was 'dough'.  The other poets on Insta did some really fun poems about playdough and baking. For me, I thought of that naughty traditional story character, the Gingerbread man. And then I looked at the 'ough' phoneme and it reminded me of that poem that begins, "I take it you have heard of...' which then bemoans all the words that don't follow the same pronunciation. I can't remember who it is by but I always liked it.

Gingerbread fugitive

His body was dough, 

He was baked to be tough, 

Ginger filled his veins through and through.

The cook thought she was thorough, 

But she made a real hiccough.

For he did not await his fate in furlough, 

He escaped through the door, she cut it rough.

Along the lane, he did quickly plough, 

He passed a pig, wallowing in a slough, 

A horse joined the chase, abandoned his trough,

A boy desired a taste, also not fast enough! 

Until in a moment, a snap, bite, cough,

As he was carried across a deep, deep lough, 

He was swallowed by a crafty fox (pity though).

Hope you are well.

xx

Brainteaser

 I've talked about our dear family friend, Norma in various posts on this blog.  Norma was such an interesting friend and a great story-teller.  One of Norma's stories, which I loved, was the inspiration for today's poem which began from the Toy Press word of the week, Track. I'll give you the backdrop to the poem once you've read it as I don't want to spoil the ending.

Brainteaser:

We’re going to track a criminal

Of the most heinous kind.

They’ve done the deed most foul,

The culprit will be charged and fined.

They’ve licked off ALL the chocolate

On every birthday Malteaser.

Left me soggy honeycomb pips,

But WHO, is the great brainteaser?

We’ve scanned the crime scene, looked for clues,

Seen footprints brown and small.

Let’s follow the trail to catch the fiend,

I’ll soon reveal all…

In the corner of one room,

Sucking and spitting them just like that.

His whiskers all chocolatey, looking guilty

Is my Loathsome Lenny Cat!

 

As a child, I delighted in her tales of her cats.  In particular, were the many stories of her Burmese cat, Lenny, known as Loathsome Lenny due to the many crimes he committed!

She told me the story of having a box of Malteasers which she had opened, put in a glass bowl for some gusts and was really dismayed to find that she'd found many of them bereft of their chocolate and some of them abnormally shiny.  She discovered that one of her cats was indeed getting the Malteasers in their mouth and then spitting them out when she caught them in the act! I'm not sure that it was Lenny, I can't remember which of her many feline residents it was so I decided to atrribute it to Lenny as it is absolutely the type of crime he'd commit!

I wish I had written down someof the stories Norma told of her cats and her life working for the Sound Archives department at the BBC. She was such an interesting person.

xx

Update:  Apparently the culprit was JIM!  I'll leave it as Lenny though as I had such affection for that cat that he deserves to be preserved in a poem!

15 minute bookshop owner

A couple of years ago, I had an unexpected experience. I blogged about it but I cannot find the post.  When it was National Bookshop day 2 weeks ago, I wrote this poem in recognition of the joys of bookshops and was based on that experience! 

I hope you like it!

15 minute Bookshop owner

I'd always secretly had a yen,

To work in a bookshop,

But my life path had led elsewhere, 

This dream I'd had to drop,

Till one day, waiting for a friend,

Near King's Cross I was lurking,

I came across a place of dreams,

Where I'd long to be working.

Called, "Word on the water", looked with delight,

And browsed each treasured shelf, 

This barge on canal, a ship of joy, 

I had it to myself. 

I smiled and bought a book, chatted, 

And paused a mo to savour, 

When the owner asked if I could do him

A very great favour, 

Would I mind minding the shop?

For he was much in need of food, 

Oh frabjous day, Calooh Callay! 

My dream at last came good! 

So for 15 blissful minutes then, 

I worked as a bookseller, 

I strolled my barge of books with pride, 

Even sold to a fella!

The owner returned with gratitude, 

Took over thankfully, 

But to this day, I'm quite sure, 

The most grateful one was me!

 

Just Sing

 Here's the poem I wrote this week for The Toy Press prompt.

Actually, I tell a lie. I wrote it last week for my year 2 children for later in the term as their current unit of work is all about the interrelated dimensions of music and understanding all the different components/dimensions of music and how they can relate and interlink (for example, when you have a thicker texture, e.g. more instruments playing, the dynamics (loudness) also gets relatively louder. And similarly, when you use shorter notes, it seems like the tempo is getting faster, although it isn't). I thought about changes and then thought about a poem with a repetitive starting word.

And then, when this week's prompt word turned out to be 'smooth', well, it seemed serendipitous that I'd already got a poem with 'smoothly' in.

Just Sing

Sing fast,

Sing slow,

Sing high,

Sing low,

Sing alone,

Sing as a crowd,

Sing quietly,

Sing loud,

Sing happily,

Sing sadly,

Sing mysteriously,

Sing madly,

Sing spikily,

Sing staccato,

Sing smoothly,

Sing legato,

Sing one note,

Sing many,

Sing in unison,

Sing in harmony,

Sing a solo,

Sing in parts,

Sing at the end,

Sing at the start,

Sing short,

Sing long,

Sing right,

Sing wrong.

Sing operatically,

Sing wailingly,

Sing breathily

Sing nasally,

Sing tinily,

Sing GIANTLY,

Don’t sing at all,

Listen silently.

 

Whatdaya reckon?

P.S.  On the subject of poems, my Big Sounds poem has been included in Tyger-Tyger's free-download pack for World Poetry Day on the theme of 'Play' on TES here

Show time!

Hi there, 

I've had a great weekend away at my music course playing Light Orchestral music.  This a particular genre of music which hails from earlier in the century. It is utterly joyful to play!  Weirdly, I was playing my viola, which I don't do very often!  We ate lovely food and I talked to lovely people, had a nice walk and played Qwirkle.

Here's a sample of two of the pieces we played- Fiddlefaddle by Leroy Anderson and Edward German's Nell Gwyn suite.

The return to school last week was ok.  We had 2 inset days and then I had two days of doing reading with Year 3 children (which was quite nice) and then I covered year 6 on Friday but did manage to do a music lesson as part of it. So hard to get started again. I always feel like I can't teach again when I go back- it all feels weird!

This week's Word of the Week for The Toy Press was 'Prop' which was quite hard to use. I've been trying to think of what to write all week and it's only last minute desperation and a sheer stubborn determination not to renege on the target I set myself to not fail on this challenge, no matter how bad the attempt, that I came up with this poem.

Thoughts?

I'

Hope you have a good week!

xx

 

Last day of the holidays

 And just like that, it's the last night before we go back to school. The 5 weeks and 4 days (you can tell I'm resentful about that one missing day!) holiday is over and we return to the throng in the morning. Bright and early!  I'm trying not to feel anxious and in the doldrums about it but it is looming in a lugubrious manner!

I wrote a little poem to amuse my little sister who is also a teacher who is also feeling the gloom and sent it to her:

First Day back

We come sulking and snivelling,

Dragged reluctantly and quivering,

Into school gates yawning

When the day's barely dawning, 

Kicking and screaming,

Cos the sun is beaming,

Whilst we’re imprisoned inside,

We've been sentenced and tried, 

Made to share facts about our holiday

Cringing when it's our time to say,

Brains trying to kick-start,

Whilst trying to look smart,

Studying maths strategies,

But dreaming of beach breezes, 

Wishing we were still home,

Suppressing a groan,

Whilst trying to name fiction text features. 

And that's just the teachers! 

• CBC and I have had a great holiday in so many respects.  
• I had 10days at music camp, CBC had 12 days in France.
• I got to play 1st flute in Shostakovitch's beautiful 6th symphony.
• Played fiddle in a ceilidh band
• Swam in a lido
• Explored a new public transport route back from said lido- felt adventurous
• Made a lovely new flute friend who is curiously similar to me in many ways.
• Wrote lots of poems.
• We had 4 days in Hexham
• 4 days in Hebdon Bridge
• 3 days at my Dad's in Kent
• Stayed over at my Mum's
• Saw quite a few friends.
• The pond is finished in our garden.
• Went twice to the localish beach and and once up north.
• Hoovered and cleaned the floors many times (and they still look dirty!)
• Performed a flute recital
• Eaten lots of nice meals not cooked by ourselves including Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Persian, Mexican, Lebanese, Italian cuisines.
• Picked lots of nice fruit and veg from the garden AND foraged
• Eaten lots of fresh fruit and veg
• Seen interesting fungi
• Had some delightful walks
• Relaxed
• Slept
• Cycled
• Played Games

It's been a joy in many respects and I am grateful for this time.

The Song of the Tumble Dryer and other holiday stories

The weeks are passing quickly!

I left you in my last post on our Anniversary meal on Saturday.

I discovered I had won an Instagram competition from The Emma Press to win a poetry book for me AND my work colleague John called 'Mates Arias' by Lewis Buxton.

The next day, I got up to go to church and was there for 9.10 and played flute for the service. It was really lovely to see Richard, the pastor from the Baptist church I used to go to when I first moved to the area.  He likes to come to our Anglican church for services when he is on holiday but not away.  The funny thing is, as I was cycling to church, I wondered if he might be there!

We had a nice service with some visitors.

I headed off swiftly after gulping down a cup of tea to head home. I finished off packing when I got home as well as eating some breakfast.

Finally, after pestering CBC, we headed off to my Dad's house in Kent where we were to stay for three days.  We enjoyed a lunch of bruschetta with mozzarella and then my sister and I headed into the garden to pick some apples from their lovely trees - there are these amazing modern variety ones which have pink flesh and are so sweet and delicious!   

In the evening, we enjoyed a barbecue.

The next morning, I woke up at 7.30am and went out into their beautiful garden for a wander and a wonder at the beauty of creation!  Went to chat to my sister in her bedroom and then we had breakfast. CBC was going to help my dad in the garden with some work and A and I went to process apples.  A gardener was in to heavily prune back their two beautiful cobnut trees which I was extremely upset about as these are beautiful and provide much shade as well as sustenance for the squirrels (and me!) .  I decided to try and collect as many of the cobnuts as I could to dry out in a box and probably collected several hundred!

We went out to go and pick blackberries from the brambles at the end of the garden to join our apples and then we went to the kitchen to peel and chop and cook apples - they smell so sweet. A and I  managed to stew about 7 large containers of apple and blackberries to go in the freezer.  We had a delicious lunch of picky bits including an amazing antipasti platter they had from Costco that only cost £6.  We started to build a new shed for their garden (well, I didn't do much!) and then we headed out to dinner at a lovely pub by the river called The Lion. It was really relaxing and I had  delicious Katsu chicken curry and a Chocolate orange mousse bombe for dinner! CBC and my Dad were really pleased with their progress in the garden.

The next morning, having not slept so well, I woke a little later but went in for my customary chat with my sister in her room. Monty the dog was hilarious as he took up half her bed!

We had bacon sandwiches for breakfast- my stepmum KNOWS how to cook it properly and then my Dad and Chris headed off to the Dump with a lot of cob tree foliage and then A, T and I headed off to the Eco Pantry at Chart Farm.  The Eco Pantry is a brilliant Refill shop and I really recommend it if you are ever in that East Kent area.

I came out with red lentils, farfalle pasta, jasmine rice, chocolate covered pretzels,  Thai green curry rice crackers, Sesame Oil, Rape Seed oil, some Magnesium butter (supposed to help you sleep if Perimenopausal!) and some other stuff.

When we got home,we had some lunch and then continued with apple processing.  I peeled about 50 apples- the sweet ones for juicing and Bramleys for an Apple Crumble AND an Apple and Cinnamon Upside Down cake.  The juice was PINK- it was so delicious and the Apple Crumble too. 

As we worked, my Stepmum's tumble dryer was working industriously.  It has SUCH a musical sound which I can't help humming along to.  Appropriately, The Toy Press's word of the week was Tumble so this inspired my poem. I would have liked the word to go in a spiral around the circle but I wasn't sure how to do this.

Some games of Qwirkle were had

We had a barbecue after some MORE shed work and another dump visit by C and my Dad. 

After the barbecue, I got straight on with the washing up and then A and I headed into the hot tub. FINALLY.  We had been saying for 3 days that we would use it!

CBC and I headed home about 11pm!

The next morning, we got up and frantically began cleaning and tidying as my sister and her boyfriend were coming over to HELP US FINISH THE POND!

We managed to get tidied and cleaned in tim as they were an hour and a half later than anticipated! 

We borrowed a shredder from my neighbour Martyn and had a very merry time pruning and shredding the Laurel bush in our front garden. We then headed to the Aquatic centre to choose some plants for the pond and other items.  

When we got back, A and I made lunch for everyone and then Operation Pond continued.

I didn't contribut much to this process other than making tea and started to prune back the  Brambles behind our Bamboo- this is a den of pure devil that we can't get to as the railway line backs onto our garden so it is a constant fight against the brambles, ivy and Bindweed behind.

After this, we got changed and went out to our favourite Thai restaurant for dinner. Whilst waiting, A and I played our very own variant of Qwirkle that we devised last Summer! We still like it!

They have NEVER come over to our house without going out for Thai for dinner so Joy, the lovely waitress recognises THEM now!  A and I played lots of Categories Alphabet games in the car which I love.

The next morning, I awoke and had to console CBC over something he was upset about and I suggested we spend our day in the garden to forget about it which seemed to do the trick.  I ate a gorgeous breakfast of entirely foraged or homegrown fruit- apples from Kent, blackberries, golden plums, purple plums, homegrown blueberries and blackcurrants.  For lunch, we ate left-over Thai from last night AND five days ago. Everyone was sceptical about me eating the 5 day old stuff but I can confirm that I am fine one day on!

I spent several hours face first in the bamboo getting scratched to pieces trying to cut back the brambles and other evils- I filled the wheelie but it is still very much there!

For dinner, CBC and I made rice and lots of vegetables. Our fridge is really full of veg whether homegrown, from Riverford or from a visit to Barleylands farm shop.

This morning, I ate more fruit, CBC got some good news to console him and I am typing this. Later, we are going to a Barbecue and possibly over to our friend N's house to wish him a happy birthday!

 

3 poems of the week

Here's what I am listening to as I write. A delightful flute trio by Tomasi.

 

Here are three word of the week poems from the last couple of weeks.

The first one used the word 'scramble' and as I was in the thick of loads going on, it seemed fitting that I write about all the things that have to be achieved at the end of term!

End of term

It's always a scramble to the end of term,

So much to left to accomplish,

So many lessons left to complete,

Several reading books to finish,

You might just be preparing

For an end of term class show,

Costume to source, positions to recall,

And lines you still don't know

Might be the school concert you're performing in,

Recorder club or choir,

Orchestra or drumming club,

Extra practices required.

Open Evening's a chance to shine,

Where parents see your art,

But SO many unfinished bits and pieces,

You're not sure where to start,

And then there's Sports Day, practice too,

Is needed for those races,

PE lessons honing those skills,

Put you through your paces.

Leaver's assembly for Year 6,

Words to write and read,

Mining your brain for memories,

Rehearsals in hot halls they need.

Then the dreaded clearing your tray,

A whole year of clutter and sheets,

Sorting pencils, mouldy stuff,

But hopefully the teacher has treats?

Conquer the smelly pile of lost property,

Searching for your sweater,

Lost your recorder, can't find your hat

And there's always a million letters!

There's cards to write and shirts to sign,

And perhaps presents to buy?

Your new teacher to meet and greet,

And school fayres with games to try.

But finally, it's all complete,

Nothing more to remember,

But don't forget it all starts again,

When you come back in September!

 

The next word  was 'bananas'- as I'd already written my Fruit Cocktail party including Banana, I thought I wouldn't make it the star of the poem and it put me in mind of my dear flute teacher, Alan Laken, who used to tell me off for my 'banana fingers' which I used to hang over the keys of my flute rather than having my pads resting directly on the key. It was a bad habit he had to get me out of and then it reminded me of other habits I've had throughout the years!

My bad habits:

Over the years of playing the flute,

I've had several terrible traits.

At first, I'd lean, flute slumping on my shoulder

Instead of holding high and straight.

Time stampeded on, new teacher, new habit.

This time "Banana fingers".  

Those fingers would dangle long over the keys,

Made them sluggish, slow, they'd linger.

The years rolled onwards and I developed the tendency

Of blowing without support from my core.

It meant my tone was not so strong,

And my sound could sound rather poor.

Now I'm an adult, supposedly know it all,

No shoulder flute, no bananas, no lack of support,

But I still have things to learn, I still listen to advice,

And give my playing some thought.

...I'll be back with a future report!

 

The final poem utilised the word 'Sandwich'.  I decided to change this to Sandwitch and make a play on words.  With profound apologies to Shakespeare as I butchered his Three witches spell! My mum tells me all of the original Three Witch scene items are all plants.

 Which one works best for you?