Tuesday 9 October 2012

National Poetry Day

Last Thursday was National Poetry Day, I love poetry and have enjoyed reading through the winners of this years Foyle Young Poets award. I thought I would share this with you as I feel the simple language is evocative of many childhoods. It has an underlying sadness to it mixed with nostalgia and love, amazing. 

Baking by Phoebe Boswall

Smells of baking remind me of you.
Your red apron, my small striped one with the torn pocket.
Your soft stretched skin, fingers kneading dough
into a ball. My fat floury hands
grasped for your amber necklace,
Quick, Phoebe, the oven!
You played with flavours,
made little blobs of buttery dough on the tray
Your warm kitchen, my safe haven.
You taught me your language:
bicarbonate of soda, self-raising flour, vanilla extract,
millilitres of milk, grams of sugar:
caster, muscovado, granulated.
Now your apron hangs empty on the peg.
I wear it from time to time; mine with the torn pocket
doesn't fit anymore.


If you would like to win a copy of 101 Poems for Children by Carol Ann Duffy you can enter the competition here