I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
II
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
This film was made by the young ‘Barbican Young Filmmakers’ inspired by us, the ‘Barbican Young Poets’ using the theme of ‘Dreams’.
I was involved in making this short, I am shown here reading a poem by my fellow poet Kemi Fontaine. See what you think:
Was a cool experience. I look very angry.
It’s Raining cats and dogs –
The sky is going dark,
Instead of pitter-patter
Its splatter, yowl and bark
Bulldogs bounce on bonnets,
Alsatians hang in trees,
Poodles land on policemen
And bring them to their knees
Tabby cats come squealing
like rockets over head
Siamese look worried
At the pavement turning red
Its raining cats and dogs
Although it shouldn’t oughta.
Next time I pray for rain
I’ll add I mean water.
Steve Turner
This is a poem from my first ever poetry collection: ‘The Day I Fell Down the Toilet’ by Steve Turner. I forgot all about this book, until the afternoon rain and suddenly the words came flooding back to be (excuse the terrible pun). This book is a good way to get kids interested in poetry, the poems are catchy, humorous and quirky. Here’s a link for the book on Amazon. If you like this check out ‘Dad, You’re Not Funny’ also by Turner.
Frank Blunt
The second Frank Blunt illustration of today (picture above). I thought it fit the poem very well. If you haven’t checked him out already, he’s awesome here’s his flicker.
Hope you enjoyed my little collaboration, try not to get too soaked out there.
One of my favourite collections. Petit really masters confessional poetry in a powerful and moving way. I was to steal her creative use of metaphor. Shall do a proper review on this later, when I get my copy back (ahem Anthony). *To-do-list*
When I finished my creative writing degree and I was looking to actually do something, I found these sites really useful. It’s a perfect way to scout opportunities out there (competitions/jobs/internships/funding) and also allows you to be more involved in the writer’s world.
National Association of Writer’s in Education
http://www.nawe.co.uk/
Art’s Council
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/
Young Poets Network
http://www.youngpoetsnetwork.org.uk/
Ideas Tap
http://www.ideastap.com/
Arts Hub
http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/
wordsthroughtheglass 
