Tulip Sunday - Laura Ranger

Today is National Poetry Day and a range of poetry related activities have been planned all around the country. I thought about which poem I'd like to share ... then remembered the poem that came to mind was already my pick for National Poetry Day in 2009. It's still my favourite, but got me thinking about the appeal of particular poems and led to my selection for this year.

Tulip Sunday was written by a local poet, Laura Ranger, when she was just 6 years old. Her poetry collection, Laura's Poems, was published when I first started teaching and I loved using her writing as models for teaching poetic language - beautiful examples that children could relate to, especially as they were written by another child the same age and Tulip Sunday is a local event marking the start of spring each year. The final two lines of Tulip Sunday have stayed in my mind and remain a wonderful use of child-like personification.

Tulip Sunday by Laura Ranger, age 6

In the Botanical Gardens
bright tulips
spread out
like a yellow tablecloth
on a table with thousands of legs.

Some tulips
have red lips
and dark black eyes.
They bow and curtsy
in the wind.