Last year, following a live show, Lorenzo and I were approached by Beverley Humphrey, founder of the global writing project, 'The Write Path'. The project invites professional writers to conjure the beginning of a story or poem which is shared with schools across the UK and the rest of the world. Pupils are then given the chance to continue the work, bringing their unique interpretations to the page. The results are incredible.
I decided to write the opening verse of a poem that tied in to the National Poetry Day theme of 'Stars'. I've always loved poetry, so here's my little contribution..
The Tent
I once cut a hole in my tent, to sleep beneath the sky,
I wanted to feel like a sailor of old - using the stars as a guide.
Dad said the hole was an error, the design of my tent unsound,
He reckoned the rain would fill my tent and likely as not, I'd drown.
I laughed so hard I nearly choked; my Dad was pretty funny,
Yet looking back I wish I'd listened, his worries were on the money.
For it wasn't the rain that filled my tent and washed me far away,
But the tears of an astronaut floating in space, that'd somehow lost his way.
Lorenzo took this slice of prose and turned it into a cover image for the book collection that gathers together all the work of the schools involved and is available now from HERE (school orders only).
Actually, let's look at that pic again, but this time in it's original form, because, well, why not! It's a beauty!
A massive thank you to every student who joined in and embraced those eight lonely lines and used them as a foundation for their own, far more impressive, verse. Special thanks to Bev for the invitation to play with words and pictures.