ode dear me.....

Of course when I took 3 unit English at school, it was no surprise to my Mother.....I loved drama, essays, writing...well, who doesn't?
It seemed the natural thing for me to do...uh huh...
My sister Joan taught me to read and write before I even started school. Joan was an infant school teacher and I wanted to read and write even more than riding my bike. I was reading far above the other kids in my class, so naturally my imagination was running riot!
The first book I wrote was called "the Poison( spelt poyson - well, I was only 6 years old) Apple and Other Stories" and yes, the word plagiarism was only spoken in hushed voices....It was written in an old exercise book that I covered in brown paper. It had illustrations (which were appalling, even by my standard!) and I still have it to this day...
However, back to 3 unit English...It kind of went hand in hand with 3 unit music (my other passion)...screw maths and science...I seriously failed miserably and was relegated to the very lowest possible grade - I think it was called 2 unit A back in the day...
English was my favourite subject. I was able to let out my thoughts and ideas in the form of plays, essays and of course, poetry...
It was hard for me to remember which class I was in, as often, sitting in maths, I would be totally absorbed in writing some kind of story or poem.
It was on one fateful day, that I was called upon to read from the piece of paper that I had so intently been scribbling on...'No, Sir' ... I replied...'it's nothing'...I was busted, big time and with a lot of encouragement from the rest of the class, I begrudgingly shuffled to the front of the class to read....You see it really wasn't finished and I knew I was going to be in trouhle....
Of course without the visual aids, it loses something, but for the first time in print in over 30 years I present:

ODE TO A TELEGRAPH POLE

by Pip Evans

Oh, Telegraph Pole

How wondrous thou art

With your arms outstretched

streamlined like a dart

the wondrous lines that hang on thee

remind me of a tightropee

Oh, pole of  glory

Oh pole of light

guide me through

the dark of night

with your illuminous top

the end

I know, awesome, eh?....hmmmm

I soon got into the spirit and bunged myself on!

I regaled the class with a very visual performance: arms and legs flailing, my most enthusiastic expressions and despite the class going into fits of laughter, I was beaming from ear to ear!

Pity though, I still got an 'F' in maths.....but an 'A' in English.....

Hope you are having a lovely weekend, wherever you are...xxx