The illustration for the poem 'Stone Says' Photo: Jonathan Gross
The ministry of play
speaks about the ‘helter skelter rides of rhyme and rhythm’ to be found in poetry for all ages
Think of this as a note of introduction, tucked in the flyleaf of a book. The book is Off Road To Everywhere, a collection of poetry for children, which ideally I would leave lying round your Meeting house, for the young people in your Children’s Meeting and for anyone to come upon by chance. It is meant to be shared.
‘Poetry on Quaker themes’ it’s not… unless life and feelings, good attention to the world around us and within us, and the right valuing of language in all its rich layers, its slippery twists and turns, are ‘Quaker themes.’ (Of course they are.) Plain speaking? Early Friends might have raised an eyebrow at poems, which delight in helter-skelter rides of rhyme and rhythm, or leave an image dangling by its fingernails over a silence, no clear moral at the end. But maybe noticing that edge of silence is the key.
