A Poem that sleighs!

I started following a children's poetry magazine on Instagram called The Toy and they have been sharing a weekly prompt Word of the Week which you had to include in a poem.

Last week, I had a go at the prompt and this week I thought I'd have a go too.

 The Word of the was was Jingle!

Something different

 I have been interested in poetry from when I was a child. One of my favourite books was Brian Pattern's Gargling with Jelly.  I grew to like it more through Enid Blyton's mystery books as there was a character called Ernie Good (nephew of PC Good) who tried to write poetry. His poems were always improved by the clever "Fatty" (Frederick Algernon Trotteville).  When I was around 13, I started writing my own poems in a pretty floral notebook I was given.  Life became busy after that into my teens and I didn't really write any. Then I commenced Teacher Training and began writing a few poems, inspired by the poems I was teaching- I even shared a few in the early days of this blog (not labelled so hard to find and labelled later. and here (not the best poems but soothing for me to write).

I bought some poetry books in my 20's.  A friend of my Grandad's, from his violin making classes called Roger Downer had published 2 poetry books and he gave me some copies.  I started learning some poems by heart when I got to know my Father in Law, the wonderful WOMOTM.

We had a push on poetry in school and I started setting some poems to music for the children in Singing Assembly to help with the push on poetry from a musical angle. I wrote a few poems as well.

Again, life became busy but I started to see poems around me.  Do any of you remember the hilarious blogger, Lakota- Faith Hope and Charity Shopping?  Well, we are still Insta buddies and she has been publishing her brilliant Children's poetry on her insta and in some publications.  A musical friend of mine, Kate Wakeling is a published poet of 2 children's books (and adult ones) and we got in touch through Insta.  I bought her two books for school- Cloud Soup and Moon Juice- both of which I really enjoyed.

On Sunday, I saw on her Insta, an advert for this event:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Emma Press (@theemmapress)

Poetry had come up again in a recent Reading Inset and so I really wanted to sign up for it- Poetry, as I said, has always been something I enjoy.

I mentioned it to Kate to ask about timings and she said it would be lovely to see me so I enrolled onto it. It ran from 4pm-5.30pm via Zoom. I joined in at school as I wouldn't be able to get home in time.

Ah, it was lovely to have poetry read to us, to talk about techniques and what works well. How the mundane can be made magical, how deep feelings can be explored, how feelings can be personified, how the ordinary can be made absurd and how ambiguity can be used well. Also how free verse can be really a great way into poetry and not getting too bogged down in a particular style.

We had 2 creative tasks based on 2 of Kate's poems, I shared my first one with the group which was based on Kate's Paeon: 11 uses for a Pea.  My one was 9 uses for a Whiteboard pen lid.  It was really enjoyable to sit and write and think  in a different way and to hear how other people's creativity sparkled in the tasks- I really enjoyed hearing the voices and the words of this group of people I didn't know.

I came out of there feeling positive and inspired and looking forward to trying to get myself writing again.

It wasn't intended as such but felt like a nice early birthday present to myself.  I had a million other things I should be doing but somehow this felt important!

If you are interested in Kate's books, children's poetry, writing events or general poetry,  head over to the Emma Press to find out more!

https://theemmapress.com/events/ 

xx

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kezzie (@kezziesquirrel)

MUD! A poem

On Saturday, myself, CBC, his brother WWKTTG and his partner M went for a walk.  We decided to do the stretch of The Essex Way between Ongar and Epping.  If you don't know, the Central Line, which terminates in the East at Epping (in Essex) is the red tube line in London.  It used to go onwards from Epping to Ongar (with intermediate station North Weald and Blake Hall).  It is a GREAT shame that it closed in 1994 as it would be very useful to have the option to join the central line from Ongar esp when there were all those engineering works where we lived.

If you wish to read about the history of it, read here- you can visit there and take a steam train ride at various times of the year.

Anyway, the walk is around 7.6miles and it doesn't follow the railway lines but it begins and ends in those towns.

It was an unfortunate time to attempt these walks after several wet months as there was squelchy, difficult-to-traverse mud at many, many moments in the walk. It was clay so very adhesive and sucked at our boots and unfortunately, at one point, I ended up with one foot in a freezing stream. Poor M was wearing trainers, not walking boots so he had a bit of a rough time of it!

As I walked, I was thinking with great animosity about the mud- I have even hurt my hip through slipping in it and walking at awkward angles.

All sorts of thoughts about mud went through my head as I trudged, slipped, squelched and wobbled and it put in mind a Simon Armitage poem called Kingfisher. So here is my Mud poem.

Mud

Mud:  sticky, slimy, squelchy.
Mud:  oppressive and demanding.
Mud: relentless, will not give up.
Mud: will take all forms of footwear,non discriminatory.
Mud: interminable and omnipresent.
Mud: just leave me alone!
Mud:  destroyer of paths and fields.
Mud: Get off my foot!
Mud:  "I will always be with you,"
Mud: just when you thought it was safe to tread...
Mud:  ....I BITE from beneath innocuous grass!
Mud: An FREE adventure park of slips and slides.
Mud:  Always keeps you guessing!
Mud:  The uninvited guest!
Mud:  Which path will you take? One leads to certain doom!
Mud: I am the Grim Seeper.
Mud:  You sap my energy.
Mud:  separates families.
Mud: The bog of eternal stench.
Mud.

Out of my window

Out of my window, are wondrous things,
Not just the ordinary, every day sights
Can I see beyond the mundane?
Yes, there stands a ferocious blue demon shaking his fist!
But he's made entirely of condensed water!
More water, more condensation?
NO- the battle of two wispy dragons!
Onwards we go.
No, that isn't a car park of cranes,
It's a crane rave!
Everyone raise one arm,
Let me hear you say Wa-yoooo!
On we go, not more cranes,
But a rainbow- in separate pieces
A memory of a childhood misconception.
An army of silent upright sentinels
Wait upon field for more commands.
I don't see wheelbarrow of thorny branches,
I see, in my mind's eye, that bliss of solitude,
Mum and I, battling against the invading army of roses
Who have been allowed to rule unvanquished in this garden.
I see the moment I was cornered by a Rose of no virtue,
Stabbed through the head by thorns, not in a crown.
I see brave Matriarch bravely beating back the Rose army.
We are victorious.
And I see many crowds of daffodils
Trumpeting upon sunny breeze.

My photos this week for Zoe at SplodzBlogz's Weekly Photo Challenge were a little boring to say the least, so I thought I'd write a little poem to go with them.With apologies to Wordworth for a slight phrase of deliberate plagiarism!

The prompt this week was 'Out of my window'

You can interpret which part of the poem goes with which picture. But all of them are views out of my window.

You've still got time to join in with the challenge- you can join in on Instagram  on or on your blog with the hashtag, #SplodzWPC

What's out of YOUR window?

See you!

xx

Advent Day 12- Nativity chaos- a rhyming ode

Hark the Herald angels sing!
But with sore throats, every time it doth sting.
Angels in the realms of glory.
Children with tinsel wings - snotty and gory.

Ding dong merrily on high,
Stop playing your instrument, please can you try?
Once in royal David city,
It's out of tune,  it doesn't sound pretty!

Silent night, holy night, 
But that wise man is giving poor Mary a fright!
O come all ye faithful,
Oh I hope the parents will all fit in the hall!

While Shepherds watched their flocks by night-
Herod and Joseph were having a fight!
Unto us a son is born,
Dear Mary is now looking rather forlorn.

Yet Past three o'clock, the time has now come,
Everyone's here, every Dad, every Mum.
Will it go well? Will they remember their cues?
Will Lucas and Johnny end their feud? 
 
The performance begins and the muse takes hold,
Parents weep with pride as their stars they behold.
Every heart sings brightly with joy and zest.
And that long-suffering teacher may now take a rest!

KAG 









I thought a humorous look at the chaos of a nativity rehearsals or plays in school would be amusing, alla Joyce Grenfell, interspersed with Christmas carol titles. It's pretty corny but then I'm not applying to be Poet Laureate!  There are always difficulties in rehearsing and coordinating a production with young children- they are so 'delightfully' unpredictable - they become very hyper as adrenalin kicks in, asking a dozen questions they already know the answer to, the odd bickering and silly moment but you know that in the end, it will all come together and the collective focus and pride of loving parents will forgive all imperfections.

The photo comes from a concert I played in today.We performed Vivaldi's Gloria with a choir in Southend and I saw that beautiful decoration and knew it had to accompany a musical post.

Ooops, it is past midnight!

xxx

30 days wild: Days 15-21

Day 15:  Wild poem and daisy rescue!

Nature has inspired some of the greatest writers of all time: join them, and have a go at writing a poem or blog about your favourite wild place. These 10 top tips come from Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion 1 Let your subject find you 2 Tap into your own feelings 3 Write about subjects that matter to you 4 Celebrate the ordinary 5 Use everything in your toolbox 6 If you get stuck go for a walk 7 Let your work be open to interpretation 8 Read your poetry out loud 9 Find the right time to write 10 Read a lot 

From afar I have loved you.
Seen you grow from youth to full splendour of maturity
A place in my heart is yours and has always been.
You and your ancestors and relatives near and far,
Have long been held in my giddy thrall.

And I've come close to conversation
Asking to take you from your home to be my companions
Oh eyes of perfect gold surrounded by white lace lashes,
Slender long legs hold you up to admiration and the glory of summer.
You and all your court, swaying in the riotous dance of these halcyon seasons.

And yet, today, as I departed my carriage, what carnage awaited me?
For you have been ruthlessly cut in your prime
Severed from your home before time.
I stood a while in silent grief, an elegy of unsaid words.
Eyes downcast in grief.

There your bodies lay, in graves of shorn green.
I gathered you in my arms like a mother her children
And collected one by one, those longed for companions.
And I would make thee into chains, woven into my hair,
But your delicate, broken beauty, permits me not.

Carried home, despite taciturn ridicule in the eyes of bystanders
I care not for these non-understanding hearts.
For I will restore thee to glory
In a monument of restoration.
But that I would replenish thee with waters refreshing.

And here you now are, sitting with me.
And when your glory fades for the last
I will carry thee in my dreams and lay thee in the garden.
For in your death, future beauty may shine.
And I may enjoy your memory in future years.

This is an ode to the bank of ox-eye daisies I passed at the station daily which I saw all broken and discarded after being mowed at the weekend. I carried those I could gather home and placed them in a jug.  Their beauty is transient but perhaps they will leave a golden legacy for future years.  I had contemplated making a daisy chain from these for days for 30 days wild but it seemed sad to pick them.  Alas, but that I had.

As I left the station, blooms in hand,I heard a songstress attaining new heights of vocal beauty. A new friend for me. I heard and saw the Song thrush.

What a gorgeous sound he did make. I was very impressed!


Tuesday: Exploring the park woodland and reading by the lake

As I left school, I noticed a few flowers blooming which I decided to take a closer look at.  Here were some tiny insects on the yellow flowers. I thought they were marsh-lillies but apparently not. I used to use these when we learnt the structure of a flower in year 5 as they have a really clear structure with stamens, anther, sepals, petals etc.

As I reached home, I kept a look out for some wildlife and was rewarded with a very close encounter with a squirrel.  He stood looking at me until I got the camera out and then he made a dash for it- I have numerous blurred squirrel photos.

As I walked along, I noticed a new fenced off section of the park where a blackbird was digging with a beak full of worms.

When I reached the park, I decided to go and explore the small woodland that is beyond the park.  I glanced in there a while back but I've never been in.  They're made a proper path since that time which took me about 5 minutes to get round.
I saw this cool eye-shape on the tree and I was struck by the sight of the ivy so poetically placed on this tree towering towards eternity.

The woodland is only small so I reached the path without seeing any sign of extra-curricular wildlife except for hearing the rustle of blackbirds and the prickly smell of fox poo.

I walked round the lake and then decided to sit my Georgette Heyer book, eat raisins and read by a tree with a beautiful view of the lake. It was utterly idyllic.  As I sat there,I discovered a visitor on my cardigan.  I'm so much more conscious of little bugs since doing 30 days wild- I carefully let him onto a leaf and lowered him into the grass.

5 minutes later, I noticed this caterpillar next to me.
Oh, and I had decided to wear my bird collar clips today as a nod to 30 days wild.

Eventually it was time to go home.

CBC was rather stressed so I bought a portion of chips and decided to have a mini-picnic with himin the garden- rattan mat, cups of tea, vase of ox-eye Daisies from yesterday's random act of wildness and a very nice relax for 15 minutes we had in the garden.We lay down and looked at the clouds in the sky.

Wednesday: Tree identification education

Singing assembly again so I decided to introduce the children to four trees- Rowan, Oak, Sycamore and Horse Chestnut.  They were enthusiastic as before.

As I walked home towards the park, I decided to explore another path home to see if there was any new wildness.  Nothing really new but it was exciting to explore a shady path and find an alternative route home- it's not any quicker I don't think, but it was nice that 30 days prompted me to try it after almost 2 years living in this town.

Thursday: Lake side linger and memory loss!
I went for a longer stroll around the park and sat and enjoyed the lake.  I also did something else but on Sunday, I can't remember for the life of me what it was!

Friday:  Nul point
Alas, again, on a third Friday, I failed to do any 30 days wild!   I had a headache again, was seriously sleep deprived and I just needed to get home and sleep.  I didn't even eat dinner!

Saturday: Flower festival visit and Snail examination

We visited a Flower Festival at a village church in the pouring rain. That was lovely and I will try to share more in another post.

When we returned home, I decided to do something a bit weird.  I wanted to know why all the snails and slugs come out when it rains! WHY??? I presume it's the reduced friction through having water on the ground makes their movement easier, perhaps it is like children skating on puddles in the winter?  Anyway, I spent about half an hour outside my house observing the snails and taking pictures of all them and no, I have no idea why they all come out still! They all seemed to do their own thing although there were some congregations.  I saw a slug munching on a leaf

I was struck by how beautiful and intricate snails are when you look close.

Sunday: Visiting a Wildlife Trust nature reserve: Hanningfield Reservoir

I knew that I wanted to visit one of the Wildlife Trust’s sites during 30 days wild and finally, managed to pester CBC to drive me to Hanningfield Reservoir and Nature reserve which is part of Essex Wildlife Trust.  I managed to persuade him by suggesting he take his bike and go cycling from there whilst I explored the Nature reserve.

When I first arrived, I saw that there was a brass rubbings and Wind in the willows carved wooden trail, perfect for persuading children to keep walking. At the start there is a very sweet garden with some Wind in the Willows models and a little caravan wendy house .

 I headed off deciding to walk round the whole of the reserve along the woodland path.  The trust keep the paths beautiful and I made sure I make a donation to the trust when I am there because it is important to keep supporting it for its continued maintenance.  Someone had built a wooden den so after spying my first wooden model, I climbed up to it.

 There are a few hides where you can sit and look for wildlife. To be honest, I only saw the odd duck, goose and water fowl but what I loved was the serenity of the water lapping against the shore of the reservoir.

 I saw lots of Elderflower- I'm pretty sure this is Elderflower this time- my Mum used to make me reach up high on country roads as a teenager to pick the cream (not white) coloured flowers for making cordial.

I followed one path and saw these beautiful turquoise dragon flies (?) . The white one really liked me and stuck to my dress!

Continuing on, I sat in another hide and then made my way towards the Fishing Lodge.  Some birds were making a terrific racket but I couldn’t see what was going on or who was making the sound from the woodland path. Luckily, there was a handy little off-route path where I made my way to the edge of the reservoir and saw a whole lot of black birds (I thought they were crows but they were not making crow-like sounds) flying off from the trees. It was sublime to be beside the water.

At the fishing lodge, I bought an ice-cream and had a look at the water.  Finally, it was time to make my way back through the woodland path. It was much quieter this way, most people coming back along the path they’d come rather than making a circular route.

I saw flowers that looked like honeysuckle- are they wild honeysuckle?

Buttercups a-plenty!

Finally, CBC arrived back to the car only 5 minutes after I'd arrived back at the centre so we made our way home. I continued the outdoor theme by mowing the lawn, watering the plants and pruning the dog-roses and hacking back the brambles.


A final 30 days wild act:

Can you sign this petition to protect bees from pesticide:
https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/ban-bee-killing-pesticides-for-good-937d4563-7694-41a8-a642-65e6b0e51453


I've enjoyed my week of 30 days wild even if I failed on Friday and can't remember what I did on Thursday! I know I did something, but not sure what! Maybe I made up for it on Sunday with my 2 hour walk!
I'd love to know what you've been doing! Leave a link if you are doing 30 days wild!

xxx