Stars in Jars (4 page)

for William Patten School

When I was new I drew

the leather shoe lace on a magic shoe.

You shaved me down.

I wound my lead around

the leaves of an ancient

willow tree.

You shaved me down.

I drew a circle, you

rubbed me out,

It became a careful square.

You shaved me down.

I was happiest tracing

the face of your mother –

her plaited hair,

her sparkling slate grey eyes.

And still you shaved me down.

I could conjure the universe,

skirt Saturn with a silver ring,

chase the rain falling from

a shooting star.

for Esther

That night the gale tilted the foreshore,

wide rain spat at the hills,

you turned in your thin deep bed,

asleep with staring eyes.

As snow rose up the mountains,

scree on peaks washed through,

you dreamt of herons on goatherds,

of the way a buzzard flew.

You woke to six bare mountains,

to one with a memory of snow,

to sheep climbing the staircase,

to blink at a face they know.

A stag came into the garden,

he bowed his head to the ground,

dislodged his rack of antlers –

his gift for you to find.

The lick of a tall ice cream

and the first burnt nose of summer.

The jumper which shrunk in the wash

back to its usual size.

A bowl of red tulips

which curl up their petals at night.

A camouflaged frog jumping

between caramel leaves.

Bread baked this morning

spread with Somerset butter.

The blackbird which sings in the tree

each day at a quarter to four.

For Barlby Primary School, North Kensington

My friend Bob

is always there,

he doesn't turn

a single hair

if I'm lonely or sad,

or if I wake like a bear

with a very sore head.

My friend Bob

is loyal and true,

wherever I go –

to the park, or the zoo,

he comes too –

we see penguins waddle

and the lions being fed.

He tells me how

to play the game,

when to dribble,

when to shoot,

when to pass the ball.

If I score he cheers

loudest of all,

till my poor round face

goes tomato red.

My friends all know about

my friend Bob,

they ask how he is,

and who is his Dad?

He doesn't have a home,

he lives with me.

He has a very comfy place

inside my head!

Time to get up, Sam
.

The sun shines through my red curtains

like an electric fire,

Noddy cocks his head beside my bed – tick tock.

I snuggle up to Mr Snowman.

He walks across my duvet, nice and warm.

Come on, Sam, time to get up
.

Where did I put my t-shirt?

It was on the bookshelf,

maybe it ran for cover under the bed.

Oh look, there's my teddy, John.

What's it like living under there?

Sam, get yourself dressed
,

you're going to be late for school
.

Expect you'd like some breakfast,

would bread and honey do the trick?

Or mashed banana in a sandwich, yum.

I need to tie your bow around your neck.

Sam, if you're not down here in two

minutes, you're in big trouble
.

Where's the armhole in this jumper?

I know I had another sock,

maybe Toucan knows who hid my trouser.

I know, I'll wear my Batman outfit,

without socks.

You can't go to school like that, Sam
.

Why not? Why not? Why not?

It's hard to walk fast in the morning

when there's a washing machine in my tummy.

It churns and swirls my toast and jam,