ON LEAVING A SELF-HELP BOOK IN THE SCHOOL STAFF ROOM

I left a book in the staff room. 

Not just any book either; it was

a self-help guide for anxiety. It was

something to fill in the cracks

of the day, a flicker of a bulb

to help guide the way, but I worried

that this part of me that I’d left behind

didn’t display my most admirable side.

Would the teachers who found it

know that it was mine? And did this mean

that they would think twice

before inviting me back next time?

Would they peak through it

and see the bits I’d underlined,

highlighting the areas where

my problems reside?

I felt like what I’d left was something akin

to a naked picture, my bits

dangling for all to see -- 

a stark image

of a distorted me.

Of course I could have denied

that it was my book. Or I could

have hoped that no one would notice

or look. I could have not gone back 

to claim it, leaving everyone wondering

which member of staff it was with issues,

who wasn’t quite right in the head,

who was fit for the funny farm.

I wondered if it might cause alarm

that I was seriously ill, and that

even though we’re generally better

than we were at mental health, 

I was still not to be trusted with kids.

So I hunched into myself outside the door

as creatures debated inside my head,

weighing up whether to go back in,

my mind a see-saw, when suddenly

that bulb again: I saw

that if I can’t be myself 

then who can I be?

If I can’t be myself then what’s the point

of all the poetry?

What’s the point in helping others

find their voice when my own cowers

in the shadows? Why blunt the teeth

of my tiger while the other ones roar?

What is it all for?

And before anything else,

behind the labels ‘poet’, ‘entertainer’, 

‘workshop leader’, there is a more

fundamental reality: I am a human,

with all that that entails.

Sometimes strong and sometimes frail.

I needed to break out

of this jail and not run away

from who I really am.

As a bush is to thorns,

as a rainbow is to rain,

as a sprawling metropolis is

to its grimy backstreets

so are we to our weaknesses.

As a ladder is to the gaps

between its slats, 

so are we to our flaws.

I did go in to get the book, 

shoulders held back, 

spine as straight as I could make it, 

and if there’s one thing to take from it

I would say this:

Whatever you’ve left behind,

unloved and untamed, 

go and claim it. 

Let others read the book

of who you truly are, 

see the scribbles in the margins

and the places where the pages

have been folded down.

Let your bits hang down for all to see.

Let your world be scribbled on

by the poetry of reality.

Let others think and say

whatever they want

as you leave your books

in staff rooms, classrooms, 

meeting halls, offices,

bars, pubs and streets.

Your word is your world.

Let them read.

NATIONAL POETRY DAY 2019 - 'TRUTH'

I am delighted to be an official Ambassador for National Poetry Day on 3rd October 2019. This is the fourth year I have been an Ambassador, and I am always struck by the imaginative work that pupils in my workshops produce on the given theme. I was partly inspired to write the following poem by reading Rachel Rooney's piece Nobody Knows on the CLPE Website. What interested me was the title, and the notion that each of us might contain a truth (real or imaginary) that nobody else knows. What I did was take this idea, and write the following poem, which is exclusively for NPD 2019 and this years theme of 'Truth'):

Nobody Knows This

Nobody knows this

but just beneath my skin

a volcano is preparing

to blast. 

Behind these eyes,

inside the prison

of my ribs, magma

bubbles silently. 

Smoke is filling

the cavern of my chest

as fire flicks the basement

of my tongue. 

As I sit still

to write these words, 

nobody knows this. 

But they soon will.

Why not have a go at writing, or encouraging others to write, a poem using 'Nobody knows this' as a prompt? The ideas could be as meaningful, metaphorical, profound or as playfully silly as you like! Perhaps start by exploring some possible ideas as a class. Ideas might be along the following lines:

- nobody knows this, but when I smile I'm really sad
- nobody knows this, but my dad turns into a dinosaur at night time
- nobody knows this, but I can fly
- nobody knows this, but I am actually a spy

If anyone has any ideas, or would like to contribute a poem using this theme, please do get in touch (either by email or using the comments section below) and I would be delighted to add your poem to this blog post! Here are some examples sent in so far by by fab poets:

Misunderstood by Philip Waddell

When they tell me to behave
And ask me crossly, ‘Why?’
And, hands on hips, they roll their eyes,
Nobody knows I try.

When they jab their fingers
Snapping, ‘Look me in the eye!’
And threaten me with this or that,
Nobody knows I try.

When, exasperated,
They shake their heads and sigh
And swear they’ll give me, ‘ONE LAST CHANCE,’
Nobody knows I try.

And when I’m in detention
Staring outside at the sky
I really cannot understand
Why nobody knows I try.

Ten Things Nobody Knows by Philip Waddell

Nobody knows when the earth will quake
Nobody knows how to cure heartache
Nobody knows what the great whales sing
Nobody knows what next year will bring
Nobody knows, quite, how birds migrate
Nobody knows what will be their fate
Nobody knows what their God intends
Nobody knows who’ll be lifelong friends
Nobody knows what made Einstein shine
Nobody knows much of Auld Lang Syne

Nobody Knows by Liz Brownlee

Nobody knows this

not the friend

that didn’t come

to play yesterday

that didn’t share

the chocolate

I didn’t have

or play the Xbox

I’ve never owned.

Not the friend

I don’t have

in the playground

that doesn’t come

to help when

bullies taunt or push

or call me names

not the friend

I dream of in my sleep

the one who doesn’t

take my lunch

or shares a joke

instead of making

jokes of me

and of my family

nobody knows this

but I am seldom

here at all, not

in the playground

nor classroom

corridor or hall,

on the bus or street

I am nowhere

no one knows

I am nobody

think nothing

know nothing

no one knows

I am nobody at all.

ADVICE POEMS & WORKSHOP IDEA

Here are a selection of poems, all based on the idea of giving advice to someone. Having read Bukowski's poem, I wrote my own version, and encouraged some of my students to do the same. Have a read of the poems, then have some fun writing your own versions!

Friendly advice to a lot of young men by Charles Bukowski

Go to Tibet.

Ride a camel.

Read the Bible.

Dye your shoes blue.

Grow a Beard.

Circle the world in a paper canoe.

Subscribe to “The Saturday Evening Post.”

Chew on the left side of your mouth only.

Marry a woman with one leg and shave with a straight razor.

And carve your name in her arm.

Brush your teeth with gasoline.

Sleep all day and climb trees at night.

Hold your head under water and play the violin.

Do a belly dance before pink candles.

Kill your dog.

Run for Mayor.

Live in a barrel.

Break your head with a hatchet.

Plant tulips in the rain.

But don’t write poetry.

Friendly Advice to a Lot of Old Men by Joshua Seigal

Sit in a chair

Dribble

Talk of the ‘good old days’

Wear cardigans and slippers

Pull your trousers up too high

Keep your glasses on a little string round your neck

Claim that music nowadays is ‘just noise’

Repeat yourself

Talk of the ‘good old days’

Forget things

Repeat yourself

Talk of the ‘good old days’

Insist your vegetables are boiled for a long time

Turn the TV up too loudly

Go to bed at 8am

Let your dentures hang out your mouth

Suck Worther’s Originals

Wave your walking stick at people

Get a hip replacement

But don’t try to be hip.

Advice to Parents by Marukh (Year 8)

Don’t force your children to do something

Don’t hit them badly

Give them pocket money if they want

Help them grow up to do something for their future

Don’t come to collect them from school in a chicken suit

Don’t follow me on Instagram

Don’t share my baby pictures with strangers

But do get me some sweets.

Advice to Josh by Laila (Year 9)

Stop wearing glasses and man up

Get a new phone – something that isn’t a Nokia

Let Laila off when she does something wrong

Get some new trainers and a decent haircut

Don’t wear 80s clothes

And get cool!

No offense Josh.

Challenge: can you write your own advice poems? You might want to write a poem giving advice to any of the following:

- friends

- classmates

- teachers

- bullies

- celebrities

- politicians