I Remember...The Winners!!!

I Remember, I Remember
A celebration of childhood in verse
edited by Brian Moses
(Macmillan Children's Books Hardback 182 pp)

Here are the five winners of our poetry
competition for grown-ups.
Each receive a copy of Brian's anthology.

There's No Such Thing as Monsters! by Corinne Davies

There's no such thing as monsters
That lurk beneath my bed
They don't exist in real life
But only in my head!

There's no such thing as monsters
That hide behind my door
And try to scare me late at night
By creaking round the floor!

There's no such thing as monsters
With multi-coloured hairs
Who only come out once they're sure
My dad has gone downstairs!

There's no such thing as monsters
But if there were they'd be…..
A friendly sort of bunch who would
Be just as scared of me!

In My Day by Nicolette Turner

In those days
We didn't do anything wrong!
We were perfect!
Never cheeky,
Or rude,
We never rolled our skirts up short
Or wore make up
We loved our teachers
(Who were never smelly, mean
and never picked their noses)
We got top grades
And we always did our home work the moment we got home.

There were no bad boys
Smoking behind the bike shed
Or naughty girls kissing the boys
At the top of the field.

So why has it all changed?
Where has it all gone wrong?
We were perfect!

All right
I might be exaggerating a bit!

Pennies from Heaven by Julie Arreguin

Shiny new pennies
Lying on the street
I pick one up.
Pennies from heaven
The penny reminds me
Of my granny that died.
She made the best apple pie.
Pennies from heaven
I find a penny in my pocket.
It reminds me of a locket
That my mother gave me.
Pennies from heaven
Every time I find a penny -
I think of someone who
Has passed on to the next life.
Pennies from heaven
A penny in my mailbox.
A penny in my shoe.
A penny in my purse.
Pennies from heaven
I wonder why no one
Wants a penny.
I find them special.
They are -
My pennies from heaven!

(please send us your address, Julie)

Remorse by Sofia Rokerya

I try hard to focus
And find the very locus

Past the mist of time
Where memories sublime

To see the little girl
As pale as a pearl

Who spoke with a slur
Whose vision was a blur

With staggering gait.
Who dribbled as she ate

Her posture was floppy
So much fun to copy

Oh how we all jeered
And plots we engineered

To pester the poor soul,
Seemed to be our goal

Oh what sick humour
For victim of a tumour.

Now all the kids are gone
There's only a white swan

Swimming, far in the lake.
The throbbing heartache

Distress beyond repair,
I scream, for it to stop there.

I try hard to explain
To wash away my pain.

But my voice is an echo
Drowned in the shadow!

The swan has swum away
My guilt is here to stay.

All-ee All-ee ENTRÉE! by Denise Dwyer

I heard a whisper and turned around
There you were all safe and sound
We had been playing hide and seek
It seemed your end took nearly a week!

All-ee-all-ee entrée I cried until hoarse
You took your time answering, of course
Where were you hiding I wanted to know?
You wouldn't tell, but your scent told me so

You smelled of lavender and of chamomile
You had hidden in the garden beneath the wall!
You bore the scent of camphor and stubborn mothballs
You had been installed in the closet down the hall!

You had the scent of the lusty backyard
Of wind and grass and sunshine and chard
Apparently you tired of hiding and went outdoors
Oh, what I culprit you are, as I searched for hours

I smelled of books and of candles and fire
I had a hint of dreams and of fragrant desire
I had the look of days searching for you
And you were so vibrant and I was so blue!

So hide and seek can be quite fun
But not when you seek and find no one
Just because your brother has misbehaved
And kept you searching for days and days!

The following were runners up. No prize but a big well done!!!

Realisation by María Laura Scasso

Of my childhood memories I wish I could tell
That they were happy and not filled with regret.
But here is a message to those who are yet
Going through school days and under much strain.

It's not very easy for those who are frail
To cope with the others that come in our way.
Their teasing and nagging is only maintained
If they see us suffer under their domain.

My family and I moved a lot I must say
And I always remember at school the first day.
It still makes me panic and makes my hands sweat
For I dreaded all the comments the others would make.

But now that I'm older and wiser in some ways
I've learnt that the others many times mean well.
It's just that we care too much and are too frail
And just don't believe enough in ourselves.

So it's time that we woke up and found in a way
that the power inside us can help others as well.

The Bullies by Michael Leigh

The ear twisters
The knuckle rappers
The chalk throwers
The face slappers

The bottom whackers
The nose tweakers
The head bashers
The teeth rattlers

The slipper, the cane
The ruler, the hand
School bullies - our teachers
Before violence was banned!

Winners - you should receive your prize within the next three weeks. If you don't please let us know at the usual e-mail address.

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