In another lifetime, aged 11

In another lifetime, aged 11.

That girl
So keen on pleasing all
Is not the one I came to be

She found
That she must please herself
Then let the others come to see

And if
When happy and content
Her ways pleased them in empathy

Why then
Such pleasure would be spread
To need no soft apology

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Statia and The Standing Stones

When I was little
the big girl - and her friends - took me out

I sat in the pushchair and she pushed
Her name was Statia
and she was very nice to me

We went a long way
Near the Convent where she went to school
there were Standing Stones
They were very old

Some of them were flat like tables
The rest were very tall and straight
just like people standing very still

We had a picnic near the Stones
Bread and jam and a drink of water
It was very nice

All the sky over the hill
started to change from blue to pink
Sometimes it was orange

I sat in the pushchair
and Statia and her friends
took turns to push me

We had to be home before dark
so my mother wouldn't be angry
It was a long way back
But we could see the lovely colours

The sun turned very red
As it slid away we walked along our path
Mother was at the door waiting
She was very glad to see me

Statia and her friends said
"Goodnight Christine See you soon"
Mother gave me some milk and I had my tea
Then she put me to bed

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Responsible for Me

My big brother went to school before me
I had to walk to school with him and mother

At the gate we waved and he had to go into school
He always cried when we left him
So I used to cry as well

Mother used to take us the short way
most of the time
We walked across Canada Gardens

When we reached the railway bridge
she used to pick my brother up
so he could see over the wall

Sometimes there was a train turning round
on the turntable

My big brother said if it was there or not
If it was there I could be picked up next
If it wasn't there I wasn't allowed to look

Then we walked past the toy factory
We never saw any toys though

Then past the old poeple’s houses
They didn't have an upstairs
Sometimes we saw an old person

When my big brother kept on crying at school
they said I had to go to school as well

I was only four but I wanted to go to school
My big brother had to be responsible for me
Then he didn't cry

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Newspapers and Sunday School

When I was little the shops didn't open on Sunday
Newspaper men sold from the back of a van
or on dry days set papers out along the pavement

My father always fetched the papers
sometimes on his way to somewhere
He rode upon his motorbikeand put them in the sidecar
Sometimes he walked to fetch them

If we were very good we were allowed to go with him
We could carry them home - if we didn't drop them
When I was eight - or nine - I could read very well
but my mother wouldn't let me read the papers

"The Sunday Despatch and The News of the World
are not suitable for children" she would say
So that was that

My big brother and I had to go to Sunday School
before my father was allowed to read them

They had to be tidied away before we came home
I used to wish we didn't have to have newspapers on Sunday
Then we wouldn't have to go to Sunday School

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Granny Scot and The Robber

My granny hobbled down the street
to buy some bread and buy some meat
and when she hobbled back again
a robber waited in the lane
to steal her purse and bread and meat

He grabbed her bag and pulled a lot
so granny called her old dog Scot
Scot knew how to sit and beg
and bite a robber on the leg
and so he did the good brave Scot

Then granny found her mobile phone
which had a tweety-tweety tone
She rang policemen who came quick
and took the robber to The Nick
She shared her meat with good brave Scot
- the bread she had to eat alone
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Granny and Scot at the Seaside

Granny wobbled off one day
to see the seaside far away
Her bicycle was oiled and clean
A really shiny green machine

She took a compass and a map
a book to read and in the gap
between them all and feeling hot
she carried too her good dog Scot

In the basket at the back
she carried wellies and a mac
some sandwiches of cheese and jam
and for her good dog Scot some lamb

At mid-day Granny reached the beach
and out jumped Scot so he could reach
the sea to bark at every wave
The good dog Scot was very brave

He paddled in the shallow sea
and he was happy as can be
whilst Granny sat and read her book
And when he barked she turned to look

She paddled in the sea as well
and Scot was pleased and ran to tell
a bird which ran along the shore
It flew away He barked once more

Then Scot did 'Swimming for a stick'
which Granny threw for him and 'Kick
the ball and fetch it back' til he
was happy tired and so was she

They ate the sandwiches and lamb
and Scot had milk and bits of jam
which Granny shared as she drank tea
then packed their things and left the sea

Scot sat alert as they went back
to keep my Granny from attack
by bears and wolves and dogs and cars
They cycled home with moon and stars

And when they reached my Granny's door
and Scot was on his feet once more
Granny said "We'll go back soon
I like to ride with stars and moon"

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Granny shopping

Granny rides a bicycle
It wobbles on the road
She rides it to the shops a bit
and comes back with a load
of bread and milk and cheese and rice
a book and biscuits she thinks nice

They're in a basket on the back
She puffs and pants a lot
cause in the basket on the front
she carries her dog Scot
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Elaine's Mother

Elaine
who was sometimes my friend
lived on the main London Road
on our way to school
near Canada Gardens

She lived in a private house
Not in a Council house like us
It was a big houseand looked very smart

Elaine's mother bought fish on Fridays
from the fish van man
who parked in the road
just outside their house

She would come out with her purse
She was still in her dressing gown
with a scarf over her curlers
and her fluffy slippers on

My mother was very shocked and said
On the main London Road..
in broad daylight too..
Not even dressed at quarter to nine
and her in a posh house..

Lots of other mothers were shocked as well
but Elaine was sometimes my friend
and Mary played with her as well
I thought Elaine's mother was very brave

Anyway her dressing gown did touch her slippers
so it was even longer than her dress
We didn't see her in her dress very much
but we used to watch for her on Fridays



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Dragon Lady

I am the Dragon lady
and I fight dragons

When they roar at me
when they threaten to hurt me
when they breathe their flames at me
I look at them

When I look at them
it makes me angry that they should threaten me
so I wrap them all around with words
round and round and round and round and round

They struggle with their own words
but mine are better braver
bolder and more numerous

Dragons - I say to the dragons
Dragons must be good
Dragons must not threaten me
Dragons must not frighten me
Dragons will not frighten me
Dragons will not threaten me
Dragons will be good
and so they are


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Chicken Feather

If a chicken's feather coat
keeps a chicken cool in summer
keeps a chicken dry in rain
keeps a chicken warm in winter
keeps a chicken looking pretty pretty
all year round
where did a chicken learn
to grow such an amazing coat?


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A Real Story

At school I struggledwith the little words
Then I struggledwith the bigger words
Then I looked atall the words together
They were all words

I took a deep breath
There were lots of words
All on the same page

I started at the first word
and read all the wordsuntil I came to the dot.
That meant you had to stop

The first word after the dot
led to the second word after the dot

The third word after the dot
led to the fourth and then
the fifth and sixth word

After the seventh word
there was another dot.
I knew you had to stop

I looked up to tell Miss
She was busy at the front of the class

So on I went
over the page
on and on and on

It was a story
A real story
and I could read it

When I got to the end
of four pages
I rushed up to the front
"Miss Miss It's a real story
It's about this girl and this boy
It's a storyI'm reading a story"

And Miss smiled
and said "Carry on"
So I did
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