I was very proud to have this poem, Sparks, picked up and published by Gill Education, Ireland. It was the inception of believing that my poems were worth something to somebody.
One day, I found myself looking around me, at every object and every thing that had led to that object to being something. I marvelled at the fact that I couldn't see much that wouldn't exist unless someone had thought of the idea or invention at some point, whether it be thousands of years ago or yesterday. Someone had to have the spark first.
For example, isn't reading and writing an invention; an evolutionary spark, where one thing led to another. Someone invents a sound, the sound becomes a word, the word develops meaning, the meaning leads to philosophy... maybe. We need words to enable that to happen.
More words, more philosophy, more ways to tie the brain in knots and give everything meaning. A simple view maybe, but hey, I'm a very simple man. I'll stick to Barbie head-type inventions in the future. 😂
Anyway, enough rambling. I'm no Plato obviously... but what I could try and do was create a poem for children that inspires this simple thought process that young minds may find awe and wonder in...
Sparks
From Pac-Man, Oz, the moonwalk, Jaws
To rockets and sliced bread
Once sparks that lit up question marks
Ideas in human heads...
The PS4, X-box, the door
The BMX, the kite
King Kong, Ping Pong and hip hop songs
The book, to read and write
The Pyramids, New York, Madrid
The submarine, the chair
The bed, cheese spread and Barbie’s head
The wheel, the bulb, the square
The swimming pool, the slide, the school
The fizzy pop, the gum
The shoe, kung fu, the flushing loo
The phone, the clock, the drum
The microchip, the paper clip
Cartoons, the ball, the screw
Blue jeans, baked beans and trampolines
The toothbrush, pens, shampoo
The aeroplane, ice-cream, champagne
The world wide web, the fridge
French fries, cat’s eyes and custard pies
The road, the car, the bridge
Wonder what's inside your head
Magnify the sparks
Imagine what you will invent
With your own question marks
©2011 Mark Bird
Teaching idea: Get your class to invent something that will make the word a better place. Let them draw a symbol that illustrates their invention and then display all of their ideas together in the shape of a question mark.
Children need to know the future belongs to them and be empowered to feel they have a stake in a world yet to be.
Comments