National Poetry Day ... anyone else had as great a day as me?

[roisin]

At the school I work at (secondary) staff and pupils have been emailing each other favourite poems throughout the day, and reading them out to the class. Loads of people joined in (I didn't expect them to be so enthusiastic ) and it was great fun.

At my boys' school (primary) they've had a poet there all week, doing workshops with every single class. Yesterday the infants presented their poems, and tonight we had a huge poetry concert with every child in the juniors who wanted to, reading out their poem. Plus performances by the poet, David Horner, too. Fantastic fun

That's so good to hear. I'm glad it was appreciated and enjoyed (that's the exactly the sort of thing I miss about being a SAHM, and not teaching at the moment - fab being with my boy, but I really loved days like that).

I'm

I'm a big poetry fan and have thought of pinning up a 'poem of the week' in the kitchen of our office but I know it really wouldn't be appreciated.

What's your favourite Roisin?

Wish there'd been something like that when I was at school. Poetry always seemed so dull and still now for the most part leaves me cold. I just don't get it a lot of the time I'm afraid and have never understood what it is that gets people so enthusiastic.

Glad you all had a good day though

Oh loads of faves lilibet! What's yours!

I wanted a short one to post at work, so contributed this one by Steve Turner:

Short poems
are fun.
You can see
at a glance
whether you
like them
or not.

Hi, roisin!

The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see no doubt
Is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

or alternatively:

There was an old man of St Bees
Who was stung on the arm by a wasp.
When they said, 'Does it hurt?'
He replied, 'No, it doesn't.'
'I'm so glad it wasn't a hornet.'

A better day in the frog pond today, roisin, can you tell?

We've just been to revisit our first choice secondary school, we still really like it and dd1 stands a good chance of getting in.

Are yours plugged into brainiac, or is it past their bedtime?

They're in bed. But what's brainiac?

Great news about the school!
We've got 2 years yet, but dh has been to 2 school open evenings, and we're off to the private school a week on Saturday for their open day. We've decided that visiting them early means we can be as pushy as we like and ask awkward questions, in the hope/expectation that no-one will actually remember us in 3 yrs time when he actually starts.

roisin. Bet they do remember you, though...

Brainiac is a mad science prog. on sky one. It has a serious science core, but is pleasingly daft. They blow up loads of stuff. Dd1 loves it.

Ah we don't have cable/satellite/digital, whatever. That will be why I didn't recognise it.

We will be taking dss with us to the private school, and I'm sure they will remember him! Also, dh does church tours and assemblies for them, so some staff know him already. So we will have to be on our best behaviour

Brainiac has been on terrestrial TV as well -- ITV IIRC. Def. worth looking out for. Have a good time at the secondary school! It seems like only last week we were doing visits in an experimental, Y5 kind of way. Hard to believe we're doing it for real this year. Eeeek. But can't come soon enough for dd1.

Loads of favourites like you, but I do keep coming back to this

Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse.
Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough,
that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss;
sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you

It's by Sheenagh Pugh

That's great lilibet.
I actually read it when I got home from work today after a horrid day, when I felt very lacking in hope for the job I do and some of the children I work with; and it made me cry.