The other day, during a workshop with Year 5 at Columbia Primary School in Tower Hamlets, where I have had several lovely visits over the years, a pupil produced an amazing poem. I'm talking genuinely brilliant - the sort of poem I would expect to see published in an anthology written by adults. What makes it even better is that the poem was written in a mere ten minutes. After playing a warm-up game, I asked the students to think of a special person, and to describe that person using metaphors. Given the time available, I discouraged the use of rhyme, but the poet in question did it anyway. Here, then, is the poem I'm talking about:
YOU by Rainbow
You are my sun
keeping me warm
You are the birds
that wake me at dawn
You are the tree
that grows in my heart
Each leaf with a memory
right from the start
You are my clouds
all fluffy and soft
You are the treasures
that live in my loft
You are hot chocolate
on the coldest of nights
You are the morning
full of new light
You make the dinners
that fill up my tum
You are my favourite –
my amazing mum.
