The theme for this year is REFUGE and here are some poems that reflect that theme in different ways. The is a poem in a letter form, an acrostic, an action poem and a rhyming message from a Hedgehog! There is also a poem about the Power of Poetry! Please feel free to share them in your school and I hope you all have a great day celebrating the joy and power of poetry on National Poetry Day

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (A letter poem)

Dear Sir or Madam,
A Place of Safety
How are you today?
I am hoping you’ll have time
to read the things I write to say.
You see, I am a refugee,
ejected from a land
where I lived all my life;
perhaps that’s hard to understand?
But in writing you this letter
I hope that you may see,
how confused I am about
what the future holds for me.
Just days ago, my dad and I
watched football together.
I play that game, myself,
in all kinds of weather.
I like to sit outside at night
and look up at the stars,
and wonder – does life exist
on Jupiter or Mars?
I go to school, I shop with mum,
I have sleepovers with a friend.
Then overnight our lives all changed,
that world came to an end.
An army came and took our town,
my family had to flee.
I have no home, we lost it all
and now I’m a refugee.
I have no possessions, because
I had to leave them all behind.
Can you imagine how that feels?
I pray people will be kind.
So, this letter, Dear Sir or Madam,
is a simple note to say:
thank you for having us,
Kind regards and have a nice day.

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REFUGEES (An acrostic poem)

Respite from danger

Emergency exit

Freedom from fear and

Unhappiness

Giving support

Empowering

Empathy

Survivors

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FROG (Finding refuge from the Heron!)

Frog on a lily pad
Sitting in the sun
Here comes the heron
But frogs can’t run!
Frog on the lily pad
LEAP
JUMP
HOP
Into the water with a
PLIP
PLAP
PLOP
DIVE
DIVE
DIVE
To the bottom with a THUD!
HIDE
HIDE
HIDE
in the
MUD
MUD
MUD!

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And here is a poem dedicated to The Power of Poetry

THE POWER OF POETRY

It’s a supersonic boom
The jet stream of imagination
It’s the lightning strike of WOW!
In a flash of inspiration.
It’s the energy of a crashing wave
It’s the fuel inside a mind
It’s a galactic explosion.
That’s the power you might find!

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And a note about Bonfire Night:

REMINDER FROM A HEDGEHOG

Every year in November,
Humans seem to know
That hibernating hedgehogs
Need a place to go.
They build a super hiding place
For hedgehogs just like me,
Full of branches, twigs and leaves
A cosy place to be.
Bonfires are the perfect place
To keep us snug and dry,
To keep out larger predators
If they come snuffling by.
But later on, you humans
Forget that we are there.
You set light to my hiding place
It really isn’t fair!
So, when you build your bonfire
Please can you remember
To check for sleeping hedgehogs
On the Fifth of November!

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