Birchwood Primary Commission

Following my Polesworth commission, I was asked to use words from students at Birchwood Primary School to create a poem about how the school would react if an alien landed. This was not my usual theme, nor my usual writing style, but I really enjoyed it! It was a mammoth task to try and condense all the brilliant detail the children gave into one poem.

A letter to an alien from Birchwood Primary

Hey!

Would you like to play with us?

We are weird and wonderful, kind and unique!

Some of us dip popcorn in ketchup,

eat pringles with cake,

dream about broccoli.

Some of us have baby teeth,

(some of us have grown-up teeth),

some of us have special marks on our skin.

We can dance like chickens,

we rub our cheeks while we think…

One of us can walk upside down,

one of us laughs at nothing -

would you like to join in

with our super-powered running?!

We can feel nervous at times,

silly at times, happy at times,

we love to wiggle when we dance!

We like EVERYTHING from pigs

to dinosaurs to drumming,

our sisters and brothers and drawings,

bright colours and hamsters and

ALL of our teddies...

(If I said mine was real, would you believe me?

I swear that he is!)

We sometimes shock people

by doing the splits,

by liking black more than pink,

by doing gymnastics in front of the TV,

by not liking KFC!

Some of us can sleep with our eyes open,

some of us can cough when we sneeze,

some of us can speak with a voice that’s really

really DEEP.

So would you like to play with us?

We are all special and unique,

come and share our sweets!

You are welcome here, our home.

It's where our families are,

our pets and teddies and games,

home is where we eat our food

and snuggle up with friends.

Our homes are colourful, comfy, cosy!

In short, we are SUPER

and we think you are too.

So please come and play with us –

Birchwood welcomes you!