Teacher, Watch Out!
If I stare at you
You’ll develop a twitch
If I ignore you
You’ll start to itch
If I look through you
You’ll not be heard
If I watch your lips
You’ll muddle your words
If I close one eye
You’ll feel unsure
If I close two
You’ll disappear
So watch it!
If you set homework
I’ll shut my eyes
And you’ll be in
For a big surprise
You’ll see!
This poem appears in Wanted Alive by Bernard Young.
In honour of National Stationery Week, I’m sharing a poem and picture that I used on Blipfoto a while ago.
I love my notebook.
My new notebook. Blank pages.
Possibilities.
I’ve only learnt about this event today and it’s the last day of the week. Maybe there’ll be another next year for all us lovers of the feel of paper and the flow of a pen. There must be some good alliterative and listing possibilities for poems on this theme. National Stationery Week are using the hashtag #NSW14 and their website is http://www.nationalstationeryweek.com/.
By the way what trick do you use to remember the meaning/spelling difference between stationEry and stationAry? I always think E for envelope that reminds me that stationEry is paper and pens and paperclips, and stationAry is not moving.
PS As I have also decided to set up on NaPoWriMo a week late for 30 poems in 30 days, I’m including this one for that too!
It’s that time of year when a poet is called to write about Love.
“Now no discourse, except it be of Love”
– Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona
“Love’s language starts, stops starts;
the right words flowing or clotting in the heart.”
– from Syntax by Carol Ann Duffy
“All You Need Is Love”
– The Beatles
“My room, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever:
I was wrong”
– from Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden
Ooh! I Think You’re Wonderful by Bernard Young
You’re the wings on my aeroplane
You’re the strings on my guitar
You’re the star in my night-sky
You’re the garage for my car
You’re the answer to my question
You’re the pen that writes my line
You’re the spring in my onion
You’re the tingle down my spine
You’re the zipper on my jacket
You’re the ketchup on my chips
You’re the method in my madness
You’re the promise on my lips
You’re the headline in my paper
You’re all my favourite smells
You’re the last piece in my jigsaw
Oops! Sorry, I thought you were someone else
World Poetry Day (21 March each year) celebrates and promotes the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry worldwide. The day was declared an official observance day by UNESCO in 1999. But as many countries already had established traditional National Poetry Day’s around October time (in UK 2 October 2014), this worldwide celebration receives very little publicity in those countries, including the UK. But I say, the more poetry days, the merrier.
You could celebrate World Poetry Day in your school by learning about poems from different cultures, including from pupils’ own cultures. Or investigate different forms of poem, such as the Japanese Haiku or the Arabic Ruba’i.
Here are some teaching resources online that you may find useful:
To book me to visit your school for the day, see Contact page.
I’ve used this song for many years and find it works very well as a template for children to work on their own ideas, putting in the things that they like and looking for rhymes. As a special Christmas gift we’ve turned it into a video.
This poem is from my book ‘Brilliant’.
I got a massive box of chocolates
but I didn’t get a bike
I got some extra-special roller-skates
but I didn’t get a bike
I got a mind-blowing computer game
but I didn’t get a bike.
When there’s a big cake in the kitchen
When there’s holly in the hall
When there’s tinsel round the telly
And presents wall to wall
When there’s mistletoe and ivy
And a decorated tree
I know something’s going on
You can’t fool me
(i)
This year,
though not by choice,
Santa Claus is spending Christmas
with his in-laws.
Ask him why
and he’ll just sigh
and say
‘Because…’
(ii)
Indoors
grim as a blizzard
prickly as holly
charming as a burst pipe
Mrs Santa…claws!
(iii)
Outdoors
the reindeer have downed sleigh
and are moaning
about the increased work-load
and the frozen pay.
Led by hard-nosed Rudolf the Red
(who, contrary to popular belief, is not nice)
they are imposing a work to rule
– a no slide rule on the ice
– a go slow on the snow.
Most folk, thinks Santa, just don’t realise,
being the boss is not all mince pies
and Ho! Ho! Ho!
(iv)
After much negotiation
and hard snowballing
Santa and the reindeer
have reached an agreement.
The Christmas delivery is safe.
Unlike Santa, who,
hurrying to and fro,
slips on the fast freezing snow.
Oh! Oh! Ow!
(v)
Christmas Day.
Work done.
Santa watches his mother-in-law
(a tough old bird)
wrestling with the turkey.
Boxing Day!
The fight goes on.
Two falls and a submission.
It’s over.
The turkey’s won.
(vi)
Sometimes
(don’t you know, know, know)
Santa, too, wrestles;
has a bout with self-doubt,
and loses.
At times
(don’t you know, know, know)
he even finds it hard
to believe in himself
himself.
This year,
to get him through this crisis,
to save him from distress,
I’m conducting a little survey
to discover, more or less,
who still believes in Father Christmas.
So if you do, shout YES!
Bernard Young is an experienced performance poet who is available for workshops in schools, particularly primary age (KS1/KS2). He’s based in Manchester, but happy to travel further afield. Over the years he’s also worked successfully in partnership with Road Safety officers combining the road safety message with creative writing. To book Bernard for a workshop in your school, see Contact page.
This Poem is from “Brilliant” and is available as a card from Redbubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/youngpoet/works/9459104-santa-claus-aint-coming
When the wind is blowing
And snow is on the way
Get your woolly hat on
Wrap up warm today
And sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up rap
Find a scarf and good thick gloves
Don’t forget your coat
Be prepared for the attack
When Jack Frost grabs your throat
And sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up rap
Here comes thunder
Here comes hail
Hear the thunder
Dodge the hail
And sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up rap
Hat for head
Socks for toes
In your scarf
Bury your nose
And sing the wrap up
Sing the wrap up
Sing that wrap up rap
Bernard Young is an experienced performance poet who is available for workshops in schools, particularly primary age. He is based in Manchester, but will travel further afield. Over the years he has also worked successfully in partnership with Road Safety officers, combining the road safety message with creative writing. For more info, see the Contact page.
Bernard Young Poet 