Lily, The Young, Passionate Poet

Let me introduce Lily. Lily is a student at Sunshine Heights Primary School. She is a young writer with a passion for poetry. I will step back now and allow Lily to tell her story...

I'm a young poet, as many of you know. I do like to write poems as you will be able to tell... and here is a display board telling you about my life as a poet.

When Did I Startt To Write Poems?

I was a young girl and I was in Grade 2. I was about eight years old at that time. What inspired me was the author, Alan Wright and the poems from his book, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth.' So then after Grade 2 when I was in Grade 3, I decided for the rest of my life, I would write poems and I would have to write many poems as the years past by. In Grade 5, which I'm currently in...it was after lunch time and Alan Wright came in, and that was the time the spotlight hit me and he made me feel like I could be more creative in my writing.

Why Do I Like Poetry?

I like writing poetry because I was watching TV one day and I got inspired by this kid who was a poet, just like me. I think he was about my age. His poetry was so inspiring, it was making me just want to write and that is why I like poetry because every poet I read about inspires me!

Steps To Becoming A Poet

1. Get inspired by other poets and your surroundings.
2.Think of rhyming or non rhyming words that pop into your head.
3. Write the words down. If you feel you are going to explode- go write! Write your personal words down.
4. After writing your poem, look back and see how much effort you have put into your work.

The Evolution of Poetry
Age 5- at the age of 5 I had started learning how to write the alphabet with the help of my mum and one thing I remember was the top of the 'e' was a hat and the end of the 'e' was a tail.
Age 6-at the age of 6 I had started to write sentences and copy word by word by word from a book.
Age 7 -at the age of 7 I had started writing books, and comics and poems a lot of the time
Age 8 -at the age of 8 I had learnt more about poetry and needed to know how to write 'more' poetry.
Age 9 - at the age of 9 I had done a mixture of genres and was really proud of comics, poems persuasive texts, narrative, nonfiction and many more.
Age 10- I am currently 10 in 2018 and I just wanted to say this for this was the time I thought I would be a poet for maybe the rest of my life -not sure...
That's it folks.

Now, here for your reading pleasure is one of Lily's favourite poems.

Hope Is Never Far Away

Hope was never far away
From the green, green grass and the bales of hay
From the bright blue skies and the spring trees

Far, far away in the mists of fog
Were
Dark grey skies where the people moaned
Every
Morning
Night
And Day

So exhausted...

The people of the bright hope
Feared
They were haunted

Lily

Poetry Inspired by Images and Objects

There are many ways pictures and photographs can be conscripted to support the writing of poetry. Allow me to share a few ideas with you: Old photographs are a great source of inspiration. Cynthia Rylant explored this idea with great success in her book 'Something Permanent' where she employed the Depression era photographs of Walker Evans to add a new voice to the starkness to the lives of people experienced under extreme circumstances. I have used this strategy to spark many individual poems. In ' I Bet There's No Broccoli On The Moon,' I used a photo I had taken in 2004 while living in New York to inspire a poem. The poem was based on a story related by a friend who grew up in New York. I regularly combined poetry and pictures in my writer's notebook, drawing on inspiration from the photograph and my personal memories. We can also utilize existing cartoons and illustrations to create ekphrastic poems. I frequently use the illustrations of Jim Pavlidis to co...

Peter Dixon -Teabag Poem

Today I'm highlighting the poetry of Peter Dixon. Peter Dixon was not just a poet. He was a performer, educationalist and artist. He grew up in London during WW2, and as a boy his schooling was far from successful. He struggled with spelling and the understanding of word, form and grammar, so he tended to write secretly at home, drawing and writing of things largely ignored by schools. Despite this difficult phase of his life, Peter eventually became a school teacher and then a senior lecturer in education. It often mystified him as to how all of this came to pass. As a teacher, he strived to be unbiased and did not neglect the children who experienced learning challenges. Peter Dixon became a full time children’s writer and educational consultant. His first book was published in 1978. Whilst living in Winchester, Hampshire, with his family, he contributed to over 100 poetry anthologies and had seven collections of his own work published including Grow Your O...

Poetry Friday 'Storm On The Island' Seamus Heaney

Given the fact that we recently celebrated St Patrick's Day, it seems appropriate that I take this opportunity to continue the Irish focus and recognize one of Ireland's leading literary figures... Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry in Northern Ireland in 1939 and died in 2013. He became a multi award winning poet. His first collection of poems, 'Death of a Naturalist' appeared in 1966 and helped to establish Heaney as one of the major poets of the 20th century. From that first anthology, I have chosen 'Storm On The Island.' This poem tells us about the stoic resistance of people and structures to an incoming storm. The island is not named. Poetic scholars believe this is a poem that can be taken literally, as a monologue on the life and attitude of island people facing a storm, or it can be understood as a metaphor of political struggle on the island of Ireland. Heaney knew both worlds. The poems of this first collection are grounded in the soil...

jama12 May 2018 at 05:40
Thanks so much for featuring Lily and her poem today. Enjoyed learning about her journey thus far. Someday we will be reading her poetry books!
Kay12 May 2018 at 07:29
Hi Lily! Thank you for sharing your story and your poetry. I hope you keep writing!
Michelle Kogan12 May 2018 at 13:42
Lily this is wonderful, I love hearing about your journey with and love of poetry–it's a passion and love of mine too–keep writing, and I love your poem board too! Thanks Alan for sharing Lily's story and poem with us!
Mrs. Wyman14 May 2018 at 02:09
Please write poetry for the rest of your life as planned, Lily. The world needs your poetic voice. "Hope is never far away." -- Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/

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