Teenage

Winter is cold weather
We should make a snowman
Make a campfire
Roast marshmallows
Have a hot chocolate
We should wear our scarf
hat and gloves
coat and boots

I am not a vibrant ocean blue
nor as pink as the sunset sky

I am not the daughter that you watched grow
nor will I ever be a guy

I am not anything you said I’d be
Instead,
I am simply me.

But society doesn’t see it that way,
The rules are that you have to be either a boy or girl,
straight or gay.
But that’s not me,
that won’t ever be me.

I look at myself in the mirror,
and all  want is to cry
because I don’t see myself.

I’ve lived so long
being told I was pink
but I’ve always come to realise
I’ve never seen that colour
within myself.

Because in my life,
I’m not a boy nor a girl
I’m not gay nor straight
I’m simply just Harper,
My body may say different.
But I know what I am,
I’m human.
Even if I use they/them pronouns.

I’m just free

Choices are difficult to make,
cuz there are disappointments in each way.
But what matters is that you face them,
like a soldier in a war, like a diamond between gems.
Choices are made by us without knowing,
and that’s what makes us different from other beings.

Choices hold the power to define you,
BEWARE! they can even destroy you.

It’s a mystery how life works,
some say it’s luck ,others say it’s the circle of karma.
Well I don’t know what’s true,
but I do think it’s all about us,
we choose our fate without knowing,
and that’s what makes our life different from other beings.

Sing little bird,
Sing the night away.
Little do you know,
that you can’t the next day.

Hurry little bird,
Hurry and pack your belongings.
Take your necessities,
and listen to their warnings.

Run little bird
Run for your life,
Can’t carry your birdsong with you,
If you want to survive.

Keep going little bird,
Keep going though you’re tired.
I know you can do it,
Just a few more miles.

Silence little bird,
Silence is key,
We hide here,
So no-one can find you and me.

Hush little bird,
Hush, don’t be afraid,
For it is situations such as this,
where character is made.

Bang little bird,
Bang goes a gun.
But don’t worry ,little bird,
we’ll soon see the sun.

Sorry little bird,
Sorry you’ve lost your birdsong.
Sorry that I was caught,
and that I couldn’t stay very long.

This is the end little bird,
This is the end for you.
I’m sorry about your birdsong,
and sorry I didn’t get to save you…

(for context, this poem is written from the perspective of a parent trying to survive a war with their young child which they call ‘little bird’ however unfortunately neither of them survived. It’s almost an apology to the young child about what happened and the fact that the parent was unfortunately already killed before they could save their ‘little bird’)

Oily Ollie offers old oranges,
Posh Poppy plants plump peas,
Anxious Adam ate an angry ant,
Horrid Holly hates happy hippos,
Juggler George judges jungle jokes.

New and improved version

Their name is Romans
They believed in omens
They had weird surnames,
names like Bowman

They loved fighting wars
legionary, principals
They had some ranks
lower class, upper class, yeoman

They had gruesome punishments
from burns to drowning!
I love Romans
They are so much fun

I have the hair colour brown,
I live in a small yet bustling town,
my eyes are forest green,
I’m always looking at my phone screen.

I love animals, especially foxes,
in my room, there are many cardboard boxes.
I’m angelic and sweet,
how about we go on the dance floor and dance to the beat?

Rosy, pinkish lips and fair skin,
I look exactly like my mum’s pseudo-twin.
falling, extreme clumsiness, that’s just right,
that’s just what I need, a hug so tight!

A little child, a tiny grasp
as he puts his hand in yours.
Eyes with trust in big, wide blue
that look to you for comforting;
a small, warm body that begs for hugs
that snuggles next to you as if
your presence will keep away the nightmares of goblins
and motherless Peter Pans.
The bond between the child and you now
is like an elastic band that pulls
but always comes back together,
a metal love too strong to break,
too elastic to stretch too far.
A patter of ecstatic feet that
race to see you come back home,
a beam that explodes with love
and joy, of emotions that make any man
smile back at the little child
for this little child,
small and innocent as he is,
changes the life and the story
of any man that lives.
Worth more than the money
of the world put together,
more beautiful than a sunset,
than the stars put together,
a child is a child
that makes your life real.

Dave is a rave
He dances to his grave
He feels like an echoing cave
And his sister calls him pave
Today he’s feeling brave
Ain’t no one stopping Dave

Without you I feel lost
Without you I feel like a mouse
Trapped in a moment of fear,
Stuck in a time being afraid of future things.
Alone without you
My North Pole torn from its south,
Connecting countries
But parted by a sharp stab of time.
The same sun, the same moon, the same love
The same God, a heaven above
But no nearer than a star from the sea,
No closer than a crack in the continent.
I want to be with and marry you
So then our magnets will be back together
A pen lid on the pen it belongs on
And I want daughters and more than one son,
A family that only we can make
That’ll be the stars for our sky
One family together
Forever.