I am Patron of Reading at Stalham High School in Norfolk. My role involves visiting the school a couple of times a year to perform and run workshops, often with Year 7, and occasionally involving children from local primary schools. During my last visit we worked on personification poems. I presented pictures of a number of objects, and asked pupils to write poems from the perspective of one of these objects. Some wonderful poems were produced, and I was particularly impressed with the following poem from the point of view of a key, by Tommy in Year 7:
I'm a Key by Tommy
My owner is a drug dealer
He gets me to hide them in the back.
I'm alone
The others were taken
That's why I stayed with him in his pocket.
I wanted to tell so badly
But I knew I would be punished
So I didn't
I kept it in
And that's when they came.
They took him
He threw me into the corner
Hopefully never to be found
But I glistened in the moonlight
I was taken
I begged him to let me go.
That's when I saw the others
Who were now scrap metal
So am I.
I saw light
I glistened
I knew everyone's dirty secrets
And I would open their doors
To reveal their lies.
I'm your worst nightmare
What am I?
