The Spring series of Poem for Suffolk workshops began early this Monday morning with a trip to East Bergholt Primary with a session with Year 5 gifted and able. We started with lists, about the place where they lived and their everyday lives, then expanded that into lines and details. We then created a Group Poem with each student providing their favourite line.
And as we went around the room, perhaps it was the spring and April and the type of writing that evokes, but the lines they were coming up with reminded me of Classical Chinese Poetry (I am not saying I'm any expert on this, but I do love a little book of Kenneth Rexroth translations). As this thought floated through my mind, one girl suddenly came up with 'pink blossom flowers spread across the ground'. That sealed it. The finished poem needed no further encouragement from me to go where it was going... contemporary Suffok poetry with a hint of classical Chinese?
THE COW, THE SKATEBOARD & THE CAT
Visiting Grandma we drive to the graveyard pink blossom flowers spread across the ground boring old homework to be done
In the mud at Flatford my wet boots go squelch On its way to Manningtree a boat passing by In and out of his castle Sparkle the Goldfish
Saturday, fresh bread from the bakery scoring 37 goals for my team 6 boxes of lego and 2 cats who are ratters 50 fly in swimming nearly out of breath
How embarrassing – at swimming my sister starts singing then my mother joins in
Slumped on the sofa watching football me and my Dad eat chocolate truffles
On the trampoline to make myself tired on the ipad to make myself more tired
There’s a snake on the swimming pool cover there’s astroturf where the dog digs holes
Dad said he saw the Beast of Bramtham. I said it was a cow on a skateboard with a cat on top.
Each day the tweeting birds wake me up earlier and earlier each evening I blow away cobwebs walking over the fields marshmallows saving my life when I nearly drowned.
Year 5, East Bergholt Primary School
