Poetry is capable of delivering so much to a reader. A lot of poetry sings and dances when we read it aloud. Poetry can also laugh and cry. It can shout and whisper. Poetry delivers emotion by drawing on a wide range of moods and feelings.  Best of all poetry does these things while using the very best of our words in tight spaces. This is what gives poetry it spark! Minimal words, maximum delivery. Poetry is as varied as life itself because it draws so much from the life we are here to live.  Importantly,  poetry is accessible to everyone of us. Anyone can write poetry should they choose to try. In order to write poetry however, it is essential to read a lot of poetry. You must read what you wish to write. This is what will make poetry your friend and trusted companion. Notice what poets are choosing to write about and also take note of the many ways they present poems on the page. Poetry offers such a feast of choices.  By reading poetry you gain a clear sen...

Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonants of words.  It involves the use of the same letter or sound at the beginning of a series of closely connected words.  Alliteration does not depend on letters but on sounds, so 'Kerry came' is alliteration, even though  the words start with different letters. The word -alliteration is derived from the Latin word, 'Latira'. It means 'letters of alphabet'.     If you have had experience with tongue twisters, you've met alliteration. ' Show Shawn Sharon's shabby shoes.' is an example of alliteration. Alliteration is used by many writers and poets as it adds style to the sound of the words.  British poet, Michael Rosen believes literary elements like alliteration possess secret strings that sew the selected words together. I really enjoy using alliteration. In fact, I have to guard against over using it at times, such is its appeal to my ears. In the poem below, I have deliberately liberally ...

I recently had the pleasure of conducting a workshop on Wordplay and its important role in growing writers. Here are some of the messages I was able to share with participants. Trust they add to your thinking around the teaching of writing... Wordplay is such an omnipotent thing. It is unavoidable. Conversation, songs, TV shows advertisements, literature , greeting cards, brochures magazines and newspapers all employ word play abundantly. Everywhere we go, it leaps out at us. In many schools however the study of words, has over time, been shrunken down to mean little more than reading and vocabulary knowledge. And yet, I still recall my teachers encouraging me to play with malapropisms, oxymorons, listen for tautology and wonder at the mystery of invented words in Lewis Carroll's poem 'Jabberwocky.' I recall the fun we had creating rhyming couplets and discovering palindromic words. At home, my father regularly engaged me in wordplay and riddles. There were also ...

I am an unashamed collector of books and it is with great excitement I share my very latest poetic acquisition, The Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane.  MacFarlane is a proud logophile (me too) and this beautifully written and illustrated book( courtesy of Jackie Morris) is a book I highly recommend to everyone out there who loves the beauty and power of language. It serves to highlight the infinite treasure existing in the natural world. treasure we can curious learners to tap into with a sense of relish and delight. It immediately conjures up multiple possibilities for teaching poetry, growing vocabulary and celebrating the wonders of the natural world we all inhabit.  This is a book I will eagerly share with poets of all ages. This is a book to make a word lover's heart sing! This is a big book in every respect. It was not an inexpensive purchase, but it presented as an investment I was more than happy to make given it's rare and  beautiful contents. As soon a...

S ounds L ike P oetry I love the sound of poetry. As a poet I consciously play with sounds. As well as reading poetry with our eyes, we must read it with our ears. In other words, listen to the sound the words create. Sounds of words and sounds within words attract my attention when I am writing a poem. I repeat sounds in the hope of  attracting the ear of my readers. I want the sounds I have selected to be noticed and noted. The reader's mind is the destination for my sound bytes. I may repeat a consonant at the beginning of certain words to create ALLITERATION. In this extract from 'Simply A Walk In the Park, I wrote  the line containing several words beginning with the consonant 'b.':  A large wooly dog barks boldly at the butterflies In  the poem Jeffrey the Jellyfish' I have used lots of alliterative combinations. Jeffrey was a jellyfish A rather jolly jellyfish He floated freely in the sea Bobbing and bouncing happily Here is another exam...

I woke with an idea in my head. A bit of nonsense if you like. So I went with the feeling. This poem emerged in my notebook. This is the third version of it.   it gave me the chance to play with alliteration and rhyme... Hope you like it. Penny Palmer’s Pink Pyjamas Penny Palmer’s pink pyjamas Hung drying on the line Held in place by giant pegs Their pinkness, so divine A substantial woman was Penny P. Her pyjamas quite immense They covered her from head to toe Which all made perfect sense The morning breeze began to grow It formed into a gale Those huge pyjamas on the line Flipped and flopped and flailed Penny Palmer’s pink pyjamas Lifted skywards in a flash And above her house they floated Gaudy and pink and brash The neighbourhood was puzzled By pyjamas in the sky A sunset in the morning Had sent the day awry Like floating blimps the top and tail Began drifting out to space Tumbling pink pyjamas...

What do you do when you want to remember something?  Do you say it to yourself again and again until you learn it?  That’s using repetition.  Repetition in poetry may include a word, a phrase, a line, or even a stanza the poet  wants to use more than once for particular effect. We hear it, We see it. We begin to feel its presence. When using repetition  the poet must make sure that what is repeated is important to the poem,  otherwise it can feel or sound overdone. In the poem, Bully For Me , I consciously repeated the words, 'But ours left'   in each stanza hoping to create a sense of relief in the mind of the reader. Bully For Me We had a bully at our school I think every school has one -But ours left Now, I can ride to school Relaxed We had a bully at our school -But ours left And now playtime is fun again We had a bully at our school -But ours left I wonder if that person is happy? Like me and my friends  Are now ...