Enrichment
That's How We Feel Young Again!
Please take a look and enjoy the results of our intergenerational community project between The Park Barn Poets and writers from Year 3, in spring/summer 2022. This was facilitated by the poet Justin Coe who bought incredible energy and inspiration to the project. Justin’s positivity and joy was infectious and underpins the wonderful poems and letters written by the children and the residents.
Poems written by The Park Barn Poets and writers from Year 3, Northmead Junior School in spring/summer 2022
Compiled and Edited by Justin Coe
Introduction
It was my enormous pleasure to work with a wonderful group of older people and staff at The Hive (Park Barn Day Centre), in Guildford, and then with the brilliant Year 3 children and teachers at Northmead Primary School, to help facilitate the poetry and letter writing that would help bring the groups from the differing generations closer together.
I ran seven sessions with the older writers at Park Barn and another seven sessions with Northmead’s Class 3B, plus additional workshops with two other year 3 classes (3N and 3S) at the school. Every week the Park Barn and the Northmead poets listened to the poems produced by their older or younger counterparts and responded to the work they had heard to develop the creative conversation - and ultimately this collection of work that follows in this PDF booklet.
Towards the very end of the project, eight children from the school were chosen to visit the older people and take part in a special sharing session where games were played, face to face conversations took place, new poems were written, and the best work performed and celebrated. Amongst our work, another poem was shared, a poem titled “Happiness” that was written by ninety-one year old participant Sonia when she was ten years old and a war-time evacuee.
This project was delivered between May and July 2022, just over two years on from the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown which had made intergenerational contact (and all types of interpersonal communication) extremely challenging. Just like Sonia’s teachers in a time of war, we decided to try to raise spirits by focussing on the themes of hope and positivity, while giving some space for us all to reflect on the difficult times we had endured.
What follows are just some of the fabulous poems and letters that were written by groups and individuals that participated with such great generosity, positivity and joy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed being part of this project.
Justin Coe
Poet/Project Facilitator
Acknowledgements
Most of the work included has been written collectively within the groups credited. Some individual works have also been selected and credited where I could find a name attached to the work. There was not space for all of the brilliant individual poems written by the young people, but I have selected a few at random, so as to reflect and record the diversity of what was produced overall.
This project would not have been possible without financial support from Guildford Borough Council and the administrative skills of Briony Impett and her predecessor Willow Cobby of Guildford’s Wellbeing Team.
I must thank Alison Rice, Fiona, Amanda and all the staff at The Hive for their enthusiastic support of the project (and participation in it!) throughout. Enormous thanks are due to Wendy Cook for coordinating my involvement within the school (and for providing me with transport in between venues!) and to all the fantastic year 3 teachers, especially Jo Backhurst who brilliantly enabled and built on my weekly work with her class, 3B, every week throughout the project.
The biggest thanks of all, of course, goes to the young participants of Northmead Junior and the not quite so young participants of The Hive, who included - Sonia, Sandy, Sue, Catriona, Keith, Linda, Jean, two Joans, two Colins, Mary, Valerie, Audrey, Malcolm, Wolfie and Betty.
Justin
Section 1 - POETRY PARTY!
Poetry Party (after Zaro Weil)
When the jelly is together with its wobbly belly, it is one
When the Christmas cake is together with its holy, it’s one
When the cracker is together with its bang, it’s one
When the present is together with its wrapping, it’s one
When the chocolate biscuit is together with the cream, it’s one
When the orange is together with the water, it’s one
When the magic is together with its sparkle, it’s one
When the moon is together with the disco, it’s one
When the champagne is together with its bubbles, it’s one
When the older poets are together with the young, we are one!
Written by the older and younger writers together
Poetry Is
Lots of words that rhyme
Or maybe a few words that don’t
Poetry is
Like a song
Catchy words that get caught in your head
Like “She sells seashells on the seashore”
Poetry can talk about cake, teachers and toilets
Poetry can talk about more than cake, teachers and toilets
Poetry can be part of your family
Poetry can express how you feel
And you can write poetry really fast
Or you write poetry r-e-a-l-l-y v-e-r-y s - l - o - w - l - y
Class 3N
Poetry is as Surprising as…
Poetry is as surprising as…
Eating sweets in the classroom
Saying hello to a husky in the Himalayas
And reading a book in the swimming pool
Poetry is as surprising as…
Watching my hamster with a peanut
A dragon on the toilet browsing a newspaper
Or going downstairs to a dinosaur
Poetry is as surprising as…
Living up in the clouds
Owning a pet Floppa
And a fish with legs
Poetry is as surprising as…
A rabbit leaping from building
to building
Like Spider-Man
Class 3B
Section 2 - HOPE IS A MORNING SNOOZE
If We Could See Hope
If we could see hope
It would be as colourful as a rainbow
It would be like a football player holding up a diamond trophy
Or like poppies on a roundabout Blowing in a breeze
If we could hear hope
We would hear
The birds tweeting
The cats purring
And the morning rooster roaring
Cock-a-doodle doo!
If we could smell hope
It would smell like
All the flowers in the fields
All the sweets in the candy shop
And all the forever fresh-air future
If we could touch hope
It would sometimes be as soft and squishy as a marshmallow
Sometimes as smooth as paper
And sometimes as bumpy as rock
If we could taste hope
It would taste like an orchid
Of juicy apples, peaches, and KFC!
And if hope could talk
It would say
Hello, I am hope
I wish you beauty
Class 3B
Hope is…
(created from a game of consequences)
Hope is something with a tail that plays with toys
Hope is something you can play with on a consol
Hope is something that has pages
Hope is something I got when I was born
Hope is something that you get taught by
Hope is something that you can dance with on your feet
Hope is something you eat
Hope sleeps all day and is up all night
Hope is something you can colour and sketch in
Hope is something that purrs
Hope is something that’s fluffy or scaly
Hope is something that can be small or big
Hope is something with big bunches that you can dress up
Hope is something I put on my feet to run
Hope is something that has food inside
Hope is something that you are good at
Hope has a spine, pages and a cover
Hope is made of paper and tells stories
Hope is round and you can kick it
Hope is something that is not alive
Hope is something that is fluffy and cute
Hope is something you can cuddle
Hope is something you can play on fortnite
Hope is when I cross my fingers
Class 3N
Section 3 - THE JOY SHOP
Joy is…
Joy is a toy with long pointy ears
Joy is fluffy and soft but loves tug of war
Joy is what I adore, and I get to kick it
Joy is a shoe with wheels
Joy is beautiful but hard to find underground
Joy is something I give my Mum every morning to show her I love her
Joy is a fierce animal Joy makes me want to smash my controller
Joy barks and chews bones
Joy is playful, energetic and cute
Joy can go 285 miles an hour on the road
Joy has 890 horsepower
Joy is something you can play with
Joy is something you can write with
Joy is something you can colour with
Joy is something you can cuddle at night when you are scared
Joy has four legs
Joy has a beak
Joy has a screen
Joy helps you to sleep
Joy is something you can snuggle when you are sad You can cuddle
Joy all night long
Class 3B