Life is a Cabaret (of clichés) Poets, children, teachers and anyone who loves playing with words: what's the best cliché stanza you have. Let's play ... Life’s a rollercoaster When all is said and done Think outside the box Although it weighs a tonne or At the end of the day All that glitters is not gold I mean literally though Don’t believe in all your told or Faster than a cheetah The writing’s on the wall Clichés make my blood boil Pride comes before a fall

So, if you follow my blog, you will know I lost my beloved Golden Retriever Blondie (a.k.a. Bloosh) last Thursday. I had to take a couple of days off work to deal with the surge of emotions. I am a teacher and Blondie was very much a school dog; she would often come in to spend the day with the children and sometimes even pose as a life model for our art lessons. So when she went, the children I work with, and the children I've worked with in the past, soon found out about my

After the saddest day of my life, losing my beloved Golden Retriever, Blondie - I had to write something as a tribute to her, however painful it would be. That's the job of a poet I suppose: to tell the truth of a moment however much it hurts. Only a few weeks before I had written, My Old Dog's Eyes, knowing Blondie may not be with us for much longer, but never imagining she'd be gone only a short time later. I never knew emotional pain could manifest itself into something ph

Thank you to Ventorros Press for sending me an advanced copy of "Gross George," written by Chris Gamble and illustrated by Chris White. From the very first page, this is a story jam-packed with anarchy that many children will adore. They'll love George Grubbington: a modern-day antihero who'll make children laugh out loud and shriek, "YUK!" in equal measure (and pleasure). George is an old-school punk who can't help being disgusting. George doesn't like rules, at least not w

I was never a dog person but when I moved far away from friends and family in the U.K. to Buenos Aires in 2007 with my partner, I felt so alone. We decided to get a puppy, and drove an hour out of the city to find our Golden Retriever. I was always told your puppy will choose you and that's exactly what Blondie (a.k.a Blooshie) did. A wobbling ball of fluffy gorgeousness, she ran straight into our arms. We took her back to our apartment in Palermo Chico, Buenos Aires, that ve

Realising it has been two weeks since I have written a poem, and with my mind gone blank, I delved into my endless ideas-bank going back years. The original of this poem, which will never be shared (it really was that bad), was about a man looking for a date with a string of surreal characters. Here is the new and improved version about a dysfunctional, long line of teachers in a school. All the poor child wants is an education. But will he get it? Miseducate We’ve had so man