Pictures on the Hearth (draft)

Of glass slippers

and long carriage rides:

dreams are made

of soot.

 

But who shall

seek the owner

of the gleaming crystal’s

foot?

 

Some say a prince,

tall and fair,

will search the long,

dark night.

 

Yet the wearer waits

not for a prince, but

a princess to come

in sight.

 

Together they will

cast aside stray

whispers of the

old.

 

Searching stars overhead

and gleaming lands

forgotten but long

foretold.

Advertisement

World Poetry Day

So today is World Poetry Day, and as well as uploading another fairy tale poem to my growing collection, I thought I’d just take a moment to mention two things that may be of interest:

The first is Jen Campbell’s video series ‘Dissect a Poem’ in which she does what most of us did with poems at school – break them down so we can better understand them and interpret the many possible meanings. The reason I wanted to talk about this series is because even though I like writing poetry, until I watched these videos I didn’t really think about reading it because I was worried that I wouldn’t ‘get’ it (I’ve always loved children’s poetry, but really shied away from poems aimed at a more mature audience for this very reason). But that’s why these videos are great. Jen shows that it’s okay for different people to have different views and ideas about what a poem holds within it (not to mention the exercise of looking at a poem in detail is rather fun). So, if you’re interested in checking out those videos, here’s the link.

The second, and I did mention this in an earlier post, is the children’s poetry collection ‘The Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry’, which is still a fantastic book jam packed with fun and inventive poetry, and will have you laughing all day (while reflecting on society, too). Obviously, having read this book as a child, my view is highly influenced by nostalgia, but that aside there are some very interesting pieces and insightful interviews with the poets themselves.

Happy reading!