' ' ' ' ' 'Laughter & Cries(For Lyn) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

LAUGHTER & CRIES

The question
crawls around the classroom.

My most happy
& unhappy

time
of all.

One little boy reveals:

“The most unhappy time
for me

was when...'

Here he falters
as if he can’t
...go on.

“Go on...” I gently
nudge.

“...was when my Playstation
broke down! ”

“I see...” I say.

“And my most happy time
was when it got...”
(he’s on a roll now)
“...it got fixed again.”

Little girl on my right
without any encouragement

whispers wistfully
as if thinking to herself:

“My most unhappy time
was when...”

“My Mummy broke up
with my Daddy.”

She sighs:
“And I didn’t see him
at all.”

“My most happy time
was when...”
(she smiles secretly to herself)
“...came back again.”

Just then
the bell rings

& the playground
is awash

with laughter
& cries.

*******

THE SNAKES & LADDERS OF MY LIFE

I had 2 boy fishes
Bubble & Squeak
(but they croaked it) .
I cried when they died.

Now I’ve got 2 girl fishes
Kisses & Cuddles
(& they swim real neat) .
Sweet!

I lost my teeth
& Mum meets

her new boyfriend Trev.

Mum & Dad - split.

Dad got engaged.

My sister had her first kid
at 15.

I had my hair cut short
& was sad.

I think poetry...puberty’s
a bit of a change

because you grow tall
grow spots
grow more hairs

in private......places.

I got a lot older & I kissed my first girl.

Girls have changes in their chests
becoming outstanding.

Testicles get bigger.

Both sexes change emotions.

The way I feel ‘bout growing up is
...I’m scared!

I got shingles because I was depressed.
I got foot & mouth for humans.

I got something wrong with my legs.

I don’t want to grow up but
I will have to
...just deal with it!

I swam with dolphins.

This is the Snakes ‘n’ Ladders
of my life.

*******
These are not my words...I just strung them together on a string to see where it would take them. I was marking essays for the little ones who had just left the secure world of primary and were now floating around lost in secondary. They were given the essay title LIFE CHANGES and these are the words and life stories of 32 little people and how they see the world and themselves. I didn't change anything just collected and collated and put them together to make this pattern. This is their individual/collective poem. Their voices and view of the world is unmistakeably their own!