This is the September 9 entry from a new bumper book of poems for each day in the year.

Contributors range from Spike Milligan to Shakespeare; Abraham Lincoln (a potent four line quote from him as a fifteen-year-old) to Cole Porter; Lord Byron to Lewis Carroll. James Carter’s lines fall into the category of light verse, but they make a good argument none the less!

A poem for Every Day of the Year is edited by Allie Esiri and published by Pan Macmillan (£16.99 hardback). A super buy!

TAKE A POEM

Why not take a poem

wherever you go?

pop it in your pocket

nobody will know

~

Take it to your classroom

stick it on the wall

tell them all about it

read it in the hall

~

Take it to the bathroom

tuck it up in bed

take the time to learn it

keep it in your head

~

Take it for a day trip

take it on a train

fold it as a hat

when it starts to rain

~

Take it to a river

fold it as a boat

pop it in the water

hope that it will float

~

Take it to a hilltop

fold it as a plane

throw it up skywards

time and time again

~

Take it to a post box

send it anywhere

out into the world with

tender

  loving

      care