My 7 year old nephew and I sit together to write a poem about his summer holidays in England - it’s all very well to assume a holiday is only about ice cream and laughter, but what about the unexpected? Maybe even the unpleasant?
STINGING NETTLE
by Rafael Tayabali (with some help from his Aunty Shai)
It hurt. It really hurt,
That stinging nettle I found.
It was only yesterday,
In a place far, far away
Where the pigs and cows live,
And English shire horses roam.
I thought the pain would last forever,
But before I knew it, it was gone.
‘Scruffles! We have no paper left!’
Says my Aunty Shai. So goodbye.
(A poem for dverse poets Open Link Night)
STINGING NETTLE
by Rafael Tayabali (with some help from his Aunty Shai)
It hurt. It really hurt,
That stinging nettle I found.
It was only yesterday,
In a place far, far away
Where the pigs and cows live,
And English shire horses roam.
I thought the pain would last forever,
But before I knew it, it was gone.
‘Scruffles! We have no paper left!’
Says my Aunty Shai. So goodbye.
(A poem for dverse poets Open Link Night)
Such an excellent poem, and adorable photo. I am happy to see the love of poetry being passed down.i always take note of what you're reading, as we love the same books.one you will love is on its way to you, written by a friend of mine.
ReplyDeleteOh Sherry I’ve been so slack with letting you know the book arrived!!! Thank you so much 😊I will write properly when I get a chance to sit with her book and take in the wild beauty of your hometown- no reading space until the kids leave xxxxx June roses are out and Dad is eating an ice cream - wish you were here...
DeleteThat's a wonderful thing to do, Shai, writing a poem with your nephew, and I can understand his shock at an encounter with a stinging nettle. When I was little, my father played a lot of cricket and we used to go along in the summer holidays, especially when the team was playing at home in their local ground, where there was a hillock all the children would roll down. One day I rolled and landed in a whole crop of stinging nettles!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that story Kim! I’ll tell Rafi he got lucky with just one leaf - the bit that I left out is that Raf was longing to see what a stinging nettle could do! He wanted the experience and he finally got it. I told him to tuck the experience away for later to write about it 😄
DeleteVery cute. When visiting England with my 12 yo daughter, she accidentally touched nettles. My host quickly found a plant growing near it which countered the sting of nettle.
ReplyDeleteHello Sabio, the plant that works as an antidote is called a dock leaf - my grandfather encouraged his son (my uncle) to try the experience of both - and then my uncle did the same with Raf!! Ah, the continuation of traditions 😬😄
DeleteThe pain is gone like the paper.
ReplyDeleteYes, true! I said exactly those last words and Raf wrote them down verbatim - steal from life is most writers’ motto!!
DeleteHow lovely to see that seed for poetry is being nurtured and cared for ~ Lucky young lad ~
ReplyDeleteSo sweet... and there is a bigger lesson in the fact that some pains in life are brief and sharp...
ReplyDeleteIts really lovely and filled with beautiful simplicity
ReplyDeleteI like the ending too :-)
ReplyDelete