Poems for Abney Park Cemetery

I recently did some work with the Hackney Pirates, a fantastic children's charity based in, erm, Hackney. Over half-term, the work involved using the nearby Abney Park cemetery as a stimulus for poetry. I wrote three especially commissioned poems for the project, and I am delighted to be able to share them here. Each poem was written in order to model specific writing techniques, such as personification, metaphor/simile, the five senses, rhythm and repetition. Here they are, along with pictures of the items in the cemetery they were inspired by.

Abney Park Chapel

I have seen the slow rolling

of the seasons, the cycle of life

and the ceaseless turning of the earth.

I have bridged the path from ground

to sky, my finger touching heaven

and my feet set in the soil.

I have heard the cries of widows

and the laughter of birds

taking flight to the stars.

I smell dust in my stone nostrils.

I taste ash in my toothless mouth.

Lion

He’s watching you.

With eyes keener than guided arrows

and claws sharper than angry knives,

he’s watching you.

He’s waiting for you.

With a neck stronger than varnished oak

and a mane mightier than an ice-capped mountain,

he’s waiting for you.

He’s ready for you.

With teeth poised like soldiers

and limbs as agile as an acrobat,

he’s ready for you.

He’s protecting you.

With a heart as pure as fire

and courage as deep as the ocean,

he’s protecting you.

 

A Tribute

Tommy,

you raced

through

the past,

weaving

your way

in and out

of years.

Tommy,

you dashed

across

centuries,

your bike

churning up

the dust

of memory.

Tommy,

you pursued

immortality

like a

two-wheeled fox

chasing

a hare.

Tommy, you lie in the ground.

Quiet. Still. Fading away.