Poetry in Woking Park
Adisa is a poet of Caribbean descent based in London, well known for his performance work and creative writing workshops within the education sector. He has published an audio cassette of his work 'Rivers, Trees and Just Like The Sun'.
Welcome to the Poetry Trail
This book contains a selection of poems produced by pupils from Greenfield School, and adults with special needs from Cranstock Day Centre, during this project. The poems were created during a series of workshops in the Woking Park with poet, Adisa. The poems' inspiration are various focal points in the park, and express the children's and adults' personal response to this special environment.
The aim of the project, which is part of the Poetry Society's national scheme 'Poetry Places', was to create a poetry trail through the park. Using the poems as a starting point, the children and adults then worked with artist, Clare Straiton, to create sculptures to mark the trail to provide a sense of direction. These sculptures are made from natural materials which can be found the park and the surrounding countryside. They are intended to be temporary markers highlighting the transitory and fragile aspect of our natural environment.
These sculptures will surprise, amaze and intrigue you as you walk in the park. Looking carefully you may also find words from the poems in unlikely places. Before you walk the trail you are invited to read the poems in this book to share in the participants' experiences of the Park.
James, Class 4, Greenfield School
Welcome to our Trail
We start at Woking's River Thames of flowers
Going through the purple passage way
To the pyramid.
This great valley of the kings
Has been chopped up over the years
To make a circle of tranquillity.
The woman of wisdom we come to next,
Going down bushy lane
Weeping willow wonder
Leads to duck swamp
Where canoes enter every second.
This junglely port is always busy,
We go down the prickly path
The aquatic amphitheatre stands proudly
Happy in the middle of old and new.
We hope you enjoy the trail as much as we did making it!
Priya, Class 3, Greenfield School
I found a red flower snake
Curling round the grass
like shiny beads on a necklace,
Elizabeth had a snapdragon
She blew it and
It went in my face.
Hemita and Jack, Class 4, Greenfield School
I speak of a flower face that
Reminds me of the reflections of my smile,
I dream of the power that the wind
Uses to swim through the trees,
I sing of the sweet smelling
pollen that the bees carry,
I taste the honey dew
That dilutes the air,
I am a flower made of silk
That one day hopes to grow.
Barry, Chris, David & Tammie (Cranstock Centre)
The centipede tree has lots of arms and legs
Staying still like frozen ice
It looks like grass but is prickly like needles
The tree stands tall
Branches sweep the earth and kiss the sky
We give the tree a deep voice
And can hear a troll's voice coming
From the heart of the tree.
Ashley, Class 3, Greenfield School
A red spider lived inside the wrinkly bark
That protected him like Noah's ark,
One day there came a storm
That washed him away from his home
That was made of elastic from Rome,
So he decided to make it from bone
But he found that it was too hard,
So he sent on a search
And ended up with a birch.
Emma, Class 2, Greenfield School
The Island
A piece of broccoli surrounded by water
It stood there staring,
Surrounded by hot chocolate
Rippling all over with wobbling ducks,
The ducks think we are giants
And our fingers are bread,
They remind me of rainbows
Because of their heads.
Nathan, Class 2, Greenfield School
Ducks fighting for diamonds
Glinting in the sun.
John, Cranstock Centre
The island of Jamaica is with me in Woking park
And the trees are green
With spikes coming from the pond in which we've seen
The pond is like a grey road with ducks paddling around
Like a moving boat
Their feathers are like soft pillows and blankets
Mauve, grey green and brown
Their babies are exactly like pellets
So small and colourful.
Chris, Cranstock Centre
Under the blue water the sea lions come alive
Under the blue water
They sway to and fro to the music of the waves
Our sea lions of stone
Living room sofas
Round and soft
Looking at the sky.
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