Poetry and Creative Writing for All

Karen Smith

Winner of our Top 5 Poets of February 2005 Online Competition

I'm 30 and live and work in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

As a child I enjoyed reading poetry but didn’t really turn my hand to writing until recently. 

For the past six years I have worked as a teaching assistant and during this time I have been amazed at the impact that poetry can have on children’s learning. I have watched a reluctant reader become captured by a poem and many self-conscious writer’s become confident authors when they discover their hidden talent. I feel that children should be encouraged to read and if they wish write poetry and I am always being pleasantly surprised by what they produce.

This prompted me to have a go and I found writing poetry was something I thoroughly enjoyed. My son’s have always enjoyed writing and we all get pleasure from reading each other’s work.

My poems 'Highwayman' and 'Victorian Child' were written for a performance of 'Footprints' at my school but I usually tend to write poems that relate to my own personal experiences and my winning poem, Why did you hurt my child today?, is exactly that.

My child has won my heart it seems

My child has won my heart it seems
With smiles and cheeky grins
And he has all my love I’m sure
As each new day begins.

My child may not be good at maths
May never win a race 
Or be the star of play or song
Or travel into space.

But he will give his very best
And make me smile each day
Quite simply just by being him
My special child, always.

So I will help him grow and thrive
And send him off to school
And teach him to be good and kind
And live by every rule.

And there are ones who help him learn
Who watch o’er him with care
Who see in him the very best
And always treat him fair. 

And so between the two of us
We’ll give the gift of time
To help him on his way through life 
So every day he’ll shine.

Where did you go?

Where did you go that starry night? 
You can’t just disappear from sight
You did not stop to say goodbye
You scurried off, your tail held high.
But what became of you next day
And why did you not want to stay?
Can you not see my tears that fall
Or hear my endless nightly call?
Or are you lost somewhere afar
Or worse the victim of a car?
Who will brush your silken coat
And who on you will simply dote?
Have you chosen someone new
Someone to love and someone who
Will feed you all your favourite scraps
And care for you like me, perhaps? 
You must have gone where others go 
That place where humans do not know
And never find, a place of dreams
Much nicer than my home it seems.

Late Again?

You’re late again, she said to him
Where have you been all day?
And why when you are here at last
Do you just want to play?

We missed you so when you weren’t here
We missed your cheery smile 
And none of us knew what to do
We waited such a while.

And did you dress in such a rush
Your shoes just do not match
Your tie’s not straight, your hairs a mess
Your trousers need a patch.

Did you think you did not have
To come to school today?
But now you’re here you just must know 
That you will have to stay.

In future you must set your clock
And run a little faster
‘Cos our school needs you here on time
We need you here, headmaster.

Highwayman

Good evening ladies and gentlemen
How are you on this dusky night?
I’d like to request your purses of gold
So please give in without a fight.

I’m here to help the needy folk
A worthy cause you must agree
So find your treasures hidden well
And hand them over, all to me.

I do not wish to raise my sword
Or leave you here with sullen heart
I simply wish to help the poor.
I play the road, I play my part.

And then I’ll leave you, on your way
And vanish back from whence I came
For I am the highwayman
Remember me, that is my name.

Victorian Child

A crowded house, a meagre meal
A list of chores so long
Blistered hands and weary legs
But at least I do belong.

I cannot read, I cannot write
I cannot play a song.
I just know how wash and clean
But at least I do belong

My Mothers tired, my Father sick
My sister’s weak, not strong.
My brother works, I know him not
But at least I do belong.

I’m a child of Victorian times
So life cannot be wrong
Though times are hard, I have a life
I know that I belong.

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