Celebrating National Poetry Day
Earlier this year, we embarked on a new Five Rivers Participation program and selected six young Poet Laureates to help us mark special occasions in the diary. Today we celebrate National Poetry Day (October 7) and we thought this was the perfect opportunity to reveal our Poet Laureate’s first poems to you.
A Poet Laureate is a chosen person that marks special occasions throughout the year, with a celebrated poem. Each one of the children and young people chosen attends Five Rivers’ Participation workshops and showed an interest in developing their skills as a poet.
To prepare for National Poetry Day, our Poet Laureates attended a virtual workshop earlier this week hosted by Poet and Mental Health Activist, Clare Shaw, who coached the children and young people and helped them explore this year’s chosen theme of nature and our environment. Each young person wrote their own poem, but also collectively the group wrote a poem together titled ‘I am’.
We hope you enjoy their work. We can’t wait to share more of their poetry with you over the coming months.
I am
I am the tree.
I am the shed that stands tall
I am the river rushing past my door
I am the drain gurgling wildly
I am an empty cabin, grape vines growing up the door
I am the flowers hanging on to the last of the summer heat
I am the grass that looks like soldiers
I am the big fat slugs loving the wet path
I am the rain rolling down the window
I am rain falling onto grass
I am the wilted flowers
I am cargo containers in the misty rain.
I am the jackdaws circling in the dark grey sky
– Collective Poem
May the poem be
May the poem be the Alpha on the full moon trying not to go rabid.
May they run and run for all eternity.
May they bring leadership and followers into the world to keep it an orderly place.
Written by R
I am
I am the autumn leaves.
I am the birds in trees,
I am the trotting horse.
I am nature’s course.
I am the cloudy sky.
Look at the spiders in the bush!
Look at the squirrels running round,
Look at the leaves all green and brown.
Look at the rain making sound.
Look at the cats, elegant and sleek.
Help these animals stay alive.
Help the nature, it’s on your side.
Watch the birds and how they soar –
feed them so they’re hungry no more.
Help the trees reach their blossom.
Help yourself and take a break.
Love yourself and have some cake.
Heal yourself and get some sleep.
Be yourself and find some peace.
Draw some images of nature or trees.
Read a book or maybe three.
Listen to this song –
maybe even sing along ….
Written by A
I can see
I can see our oasis of a garden,
I can see the birds perching on the branches of tall pine trees,
I can see the factory rooftops reflecting the bright sunset.
I can see the light at the top of the Northern Spire shining its beacon in the distance.
I can see a planet shining like a star.
I am a flower holding my head up to catch the last of the sun.
I am a pine-cone opening and closing my woody seed scales.
I am a heatwave bouncing off factory rooftops
I am a beacon announcing my presence to passing pilots.
I am the sun getting ready for bed.
Written by D
May the poems be
A bird in a cage,
May it flap its wings,
I treasure you,
So fly my loved one, fly.
Written by B
How to save the world?!
Look at the clouds in the sky.
Look at the house across the road.
Look at the trees rustling in the wind.
Look at the house standing tall.
Look at the weather outside.
Imagine you are a crow flying high.
Imagine you are a tree full in bloom.
Imagine you are a dog in the sunshine or rain.
Imagine you are a car driving around the streets.
Talk to someone about your worries.
Have a cup of tea with your friends.
Take a walk around the boating lake nearby.
Sing as loud as possible.
Dance the night away.
Take time to read a book.
Written by AN
May the poem be a mountain
May the mountain hide behind a cloud of mist.
May the mountain stand still.
May the mountain be surrounded in snow.
I am the rain that fills the puddles.
I am the flowers that sway in the wind.
I am the ball that gets thrown in the Summer.
I am the music that bounces off the walls.
And I am the tree that waves at people when they walk by.
Written by R