Jubilant Ekphrasis

Ekphrasis: Now, that is a big word for a Friday afternoon. 


It comes to us from Ancient Greece, and relates to the idea of writing inspired by or about art or visual images. The ekphrastic tradition is more complex than that, but we come across it in its modern form all over the place in English Literature. Some of my favourites include the poems I Would Like to be a Dot in a Painting by Miro by Monica Alzi and Musee des Beaux Arts by WH Auden. But more on those at a later date!

 This weekend marks the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations and our school is ablaze in a conflagration of red, white and blue. I would like you to take a photograph of something that captures the essence of this idea, from near or from afar. Post it on your blog, then use someone else's photograph to write your own piece. You can use any form you wish.

To mark this special occasion our teachers made us dress up in red, white and blue, although some came as the Queen! we had hair dye and face paint everywhere!
I took these 3 pictures because they represented the Diamond Jubilee to me, what do they say to you?

Near and Far

Near and Far,

Green in your mind, clear in real life,

small lines that run through it,

and a tip sharp as a knife.

Sometimes scratches,

or caterpillar bites,

then the rest just matches.

Just one in a million, 

from a different perspective,

occasionally one in a billion.

That is it from a far,

simple as you like,

well that's just grass 

The rollercoaster

Aaaargh, twisting and turning in the bitter cold wind, flying up and down and doing loop-the-loops. it felt like a plane going to crash. I felt my hair strung back, tight against the seat.  Suddenly we were rising up again back towards the clouds and the birds, but this wasn't for long as it felt like my plane was crashing once more, suddenly we came to a sudden stop. "Out you get missy, rollercoaster's over."

How old is never???

This is my attempt at some impossible questions...

How old is never?
Never has no age but the age of infinity, it goes on forever or never, depending on who's mindset you are in. 

What is the texture of sadness?
The texture of sadness is like when you go to the beach, or you have just been surfing the best waves and get right to the edge of the waters and get sand in your mouth, or when there is some leftover sugar in the back of your mouth once you have finished your bowl of cereal in the morning.


What does an echo look like?
An echo looks like your hair when you wake up in the morning, every strand of hair in it's own direction just like the sound, going in any direction it likes.


What shape is infinity?
The shape of infinity is a kite, a red kite. Showing that there are corners and problems in the way of your life but if you take a different route you can overcome these problems.

Now I'm Telling You

I remember my mum and dad reading to me when I was only two or three years old every night, it was always the same book, my favourite, Noddy.  By the time I was three years old I was able to recite the whole book to my family.

When I was seven years old, I would spend all my pocket money on books, I used to read three books at once, one for the morning, one for the afternoon and the other for lying in bed in the evening. 

My favourite book at the minute is Peter and the Shadow Thieves, it's the prequel to Peter Pan, written by J.M. Barry's son, Dave Barry.

When I was twelve years old I wrote a poem about Halloween and was given a really good grade it, that was when I first realised that I  was good at English.

 I have always enjoyed writing and reading especially and the books I have written are always about adventure.

I now have a baby sister, who I enjoy reading to, and me and my other sister enjoy making up circle stories where one of us adds a word and then the other, saying one word each.