The Gate is a Poem

The thing about poems is that you never quite know when they’re going to pop up. They can, of course, be wholly relied upon NOT to appear when you sit down to write one.

For me, they come when I’m nodding off, when I am attempting to relax in the bath, and very often, when I am walking.

As a child I was forever in the fields, playing in the garden, or simply contemplating life, sitting on the gate to the nearby field. For a while there was a friendly horse called Pippit who would come when I called, and there were always dens to be built, berries to be picked, and trees to be imagined into houses and castles.

Nowadays, I try to walk most mornings before I sit down at the laptop. There are a few dog walkers on the route I take, but otherwise it’s just me and nature. By the time I get to the gate where I stop to take a photo of the sunrise showing off behind a tree, I’ve often got a poem forming.

So that got me thinking about the circular nature of it all. Here’s me, on my own, at a gate to a field, full of ideas and hope, just like I used to be.

I’ve pledged to myself to write more poems while out and about in nature, this year. I feel lucky to live where I do, lucky to be writing poems which are being published and enjoyed, and very lucky to have found another gate (all about symbols, this writing game, after all).

Notes on a Walk

Here

there are no pavements

but your feet know

just where

to go.

Here

stone walls are hung

with rugs

like moss-green

Granny-sofas.

Here

Hellos are gifts you find

on walks

passed between strangers

with smiles.

Here

there is so much

sky.

Take a Deep Breath and...

Photo from Unsplash by Inspa Makers

Just a quick reminder to do something out of your comfort zone now and again.

Working for myself, from home, doing something I have chosen, and love to do – well, I could easily sit wrapped in a blanket writing delicious poems all day long, being safely hermit-like.

BUT! Instead, today I sent emails to more schools offering visits (I love doing school visits, but I am not so keen on driving to new places).

Hurrah!

And yes, I’ve sold my soul to social media and am now dabbling in the wacky world of effects and filters on TikTok! Today I posted my first TikTok poetry video, looking quite daft, and letting myself get covered in animated bubbles.

Huzzah!

And I feel good.

So, be brave.

Do it.

Have fun!

Whose Rhyme is it Anyway?

Happy New Year! I hope everyone received books, pens, and a bottle of their favourite gin, for Christmas, too.

The absolute highlight of the festive period for me, was time spent with schoolchildren in sparkly jumpers, sharing my festive poems. A school visit and a community event were both delightfully full of laughter, imagination, and chocolate Santas.

I often think about the reasons we write poetry. As a teen, I wrote for the love of creating an almost-song-lyric; an image, and for the burning need to commit angst and unrequited love to paper. Later, it was for portfolios, approval, and occasionally for weddings. I write adult poetry for many reasons, still, but today I’m thinking about my poetry for children. And that’s the thing: Poetry FOR Children. I call myself a children’s poet, but most days I am to be found making myself extremely happy by writing poetry *suitable for children*, planning, submitting work, Zooming with fellow children’s poets, and chatting under the wide-reaching, hug-worthy Tree of Support which is The Online Writing Community. Oh, that tree is a wonderful thing! Especially its branch of children’s writers – sorry – who are THE most supportive crowd and do as much to boost and encourage each other as they do for themselves. But they are adults, too (albeit fellow writers, from whom I have learnt a lot, and who boost my confidence each and every day).

So, The Children.

I am currently securing visits to schools in World Book Week, planning my next community events (I have been approached by several parents and children, asking for an Easter event…the chocolate Santas may have started something!) and thinking of fun ways to promote and enjoy my upcoming poetry collections for children, with, well, children! They are the WHY, after all (along with the obvious ‘Because I love it!’).

When my first collection is published (May ‘23), I will refrain from stopping children in shops and reading them poems. I promise I won’t force every child in my son’s school to buy a copy. And I almost certainly will not make my 5yo have a Poetry Party for his 6th birthday. BUT I will be doing my best to get my poetry to the eyes and ears of children, to get them joyfully joining in with call-and-response poems, poems with actions, poems which make them think, and poems which prompt them to tell me long stories afterwards, about something that has happened to them.

That’s the point of all this, after all.

Happy reading, writing, and poeming.

Attie x