michael lambe's scrapbook

This is my nephew Joseph who as it turns out is a brilliant poet.
The following verses (which form part of a collaborative work he has been working on with some other young poets) are all his own work:

Poor broken trees in the distance live no more
Twigs fallen from the shattered branch are scattered on the ground
And the trunk cut into small pieces.

The tremendous oak stands there proud
Drawing up water through its roots
Time goes by, twigs fall off in the winter winds
No leaves, just a lonely tree.

Not bad for a lad of ten, eh? “The background to the poem” writes my sister “is that we had a very bad storm in England in January with very severe winds. Several trees came down in the school playground and the surrounding area. The first verse refers to the remains of the trees, workmen had been and chopped up the branches/trunk. If you remember Fingringhoe, Michael, the school is next to a green and a pond which is dominated by the “tremendous oak” of the second verse. I’ve just been to Joseph’s Class 3 assembly which was very enjoyable… …Joseph also read his poem and I was a very proud mum. I could also hear every word he said which was very impressive as the assembly was in the church which is big and has lots of echoes.”

A performance poet no less. And it’s no small thing to make your mum proud, eh Joseph?
Good stuff. I await more in eager anticipation.

I’m off to Tokyo for Mr. Sparks’s Annual Beer Tasting Party this weekend, so may not get a chance to blog for a couple of days. Here’s another Joe Strummer song, this one called “Burning Lights” (apparently some members of the Pogues had a hand in the writing of this one…):

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