Poems from Salhouse Primary School

Please scroll down to read a selection of beautiful poems created by YR 6 children at Salhouse Primary School, inspired by a Norfolk Reads and Writes workshop with Mark Cocker. 'Ladybird' by Georgia Whitton is particularly striking, but they're all of a very high standard, - if they're writing at this level in YR 6, what's next? Well done to all who took part, and keep up the writing!

Moth began

He took the bark from a tree
and the standing hair from a shock
and made his wings.

He took the curl of the waves
and the fluttering of a leaf
to make his flap.

He took the structure of a skull
and the smoothness from a feather
to make his head.

He took the length of a finger
and the width of a piece of paper
and made his body.

For his antennae
He took the curl from layered hair
And the strength from a unicorn’s horn.

And moth was made.

by Natasha Frankland


Bee Began

She took the dome
A famous land mark,
With the many hexagons,
And made her eyes.

For her antennae,
She took to bendy willow,
And the quiver of a leaf
In the wind.

She took the transparent glass,
Making marks, segments,
For her wings.

For her legs
She took the fur of a mouse,
The segments of a woodlouse.

She took the black of the night,
The yellow of light
And made her markings.

For her sting,
She took the pain of the
Sharpness of holly
And point of a needle.

She took a helicopter blades,
Spinning,
An engine humming,
And made
The bee’s unique buzz.

And bee was made.

by Alice Southwood

Grasshopper Poem

Long-legged, small-headed,
High-jumper, loud-chirper,
Song-maker, leaves-breaker,
Frog-prey, eaten-alive,
Big-eyes, pretty-wise,
Hairy-legs, lays-eggs.

by Dominic Newnham

Grass

Happily, steadily, growing,
I grow - a single blade of grass;
September draws nearer.
Happy we are
Standing in the field.
We stand facing the playground
Waiting, staring, waiting, staring
We know our fate
Our fate lies ahead,
Thunder draws nearer:
They’re coming!
They trample on us,
Ruin our happiness;
Footballs roll over us,
They slide, skid and slip on us
But we will come back
Strong, tall and steady.

by Genevieve Pascall

Ladybird

Ladybird began.

She took the emptiness of a cave,
She took the hollow of a hole,
Then silenced it for her voice.

For her elytra,
She took the glow of the sun,
She took and ink blot from a pen,
And cased it over her body.

From the top of a tree,
She took the switness of a swallow,
And the buzz of a bee,
For her flight.

Love and passion,
Went into her soul,
And for her young
She took pride.

by Georgia Whitton

I, Privet Hawk Moth

I, Privet Hawk Moth,
Will wake up at nightfall,
And hover around through the cold, cold night.
I used to creep, slither and crawl.
But now I fly through the air like a miniature kite.
I lay my egg on Privet.
It finally hatches,
What I used to be comes out.
My baby will creep, slither and crawl!
My little caterpillar will turn into a pupa in the
ground.
Develop, develop!
And turn into what I am now,
I, Privet Hawk Moth.

by Liam Temple

Moth

Scorned at by the butterfly
Moth’s tears of greys and browns and blacks
Engulf him in his anger.
He’s sucked into an ever - deepening hole
Of emotions cascading down, down, down,
Forcing out sadness and despair to all creatures.
The moth will go down in history as
Earth’s killer even though it was
The butterfly.

by Molly Elsegood

Privet Hawk Moth Rap

Big, some huge, some quite hairy,
People think they’re really scary,
But I don’t think that ‘cos they’re cool
A man called Mark came to Salhouse school.

He showed us the massive privet hawk
The end of their legs look like a pitchfork;
I held it in my hand, it kept tickling when it flew,
The wings started flickering so it must be a moth,
A moth, a moth, a giant great moth:
The body feels like a small piece of cloth
It’s a moth, a moth, a giant great moth,
So everybody put your hands up for the moths
Everybody put your hands up for the moths!

by Jedd Bobbin

Grasshopper

Small,
I wriggle out of a cramped hole
Into the open world.
I wonder
And as I do so
I shed my skin –
Over and over again.

Wandering
Through the grass
I grow and grow,
And as I do
I grow my legs.

Then I’m free,
Singing my creaking song
Then I L E A P!

by Sean Hendley