The Dog with a Clock in his Brain

I was delighted to return to St Mary's CEVA Primary in Hadleigh for Poem for Suffolk, where the poet Andrew Frolish​ is Headteacher. I worked with Year 3, Year 4 and finished with a small group from Year 5. Sometimes the sessions go in a way you don't expect and for some reason having shared my own passionate hatred of mornings with the group, the writing became fixated on the grimness of winter mornings. 'Is anything good about the winter?' I asked. It was at least someone's birthday which gives the poem a rather thoughtful ending. And the image of the day? That was Andrew in his office, in front of his computer, settling down for the first bite of his very late lunch just as I was leaving at 3 o'clock...

WINTER MORNINGS AND ONE NIGHT My dog has a clock in his brain he always wakes me at the right time. Some morning I think it’s too early so lazy bones goes back to sleep. Still dark, not even a street light, until Dad flicks the switch on the landing. I flump downstairs and think today’s going to be tiring. One morning I open the door and Craig my sleepwalking brother knocks me clean over. Another day I go swimming at 6.05, pitch black outside and I walk into a lamppost. On the night before my birthday I know I went to bed at half-past eight. It’s my last day of being nine I thought but tomorrow I’m ten.

Year 5, St Mary's CEVA Primary, Hadleigh

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