LesleyScoble.com

Melissa Lemay is host to this week’s D’verse Tuesday Poetics and these are her guidelines and prompt options.

1. Select one of the traditional characters (penguin, partridge, wren or *kangaroo?) and write a poem from the (first person) point of view of said bird or marsupial. Imagine you are one of these. What is it like where you live this time of year? How does Christmas factor in to your life, or how do you factor into Christmas? Perhaps you object to being associated with a holiday, or have just learned of the association and are filled with incredulity. Whatever you celebrate, or if you don’t celebrate, feel free to write about anything, incorporating the creature’s point of view.

2. Select one of the traditional creatures and write a poem from the third person point of view, describing how a poem might talk with or interact with said bird or marsupial. What tone does the poem take? Is the poem skeptical about why a kangaroo is associated with Christmas? Is the poem concerned for the animal’s welfare in the current climate crisis? Does the poem attempt to convince the wren to revolt against the very ones who so wrongly incorporated it into the holiday season? 

Feel free to write about anything, using the dialogue between poem and creature.

Is a kangaroo a traditional Christmas animal?
*In Australia, the weather is too hot for reindeer—so Santa replaces them with kangaroos. (we learn something every day.)

I chose the prompt option to use the dialogue between the poem and the creature. I also sketched the wren to illustrate it. I didn’t have time to sketch the poem. I quite fancy drawing a picture of an animated piece of paper…

The Wren and the Poem

THE WREN AND THE POEM

I may be small, but my heart is big
I can sing really loud
And I can dance a jig.
Can you write a poem asked the poem to the bird?
Oh, don’t be silly! Answered the wren,
That would be absurd.

The poem said, I am well read,
My verse is poetic and speaks of love.
Can you sing your heart out into the sky above?
Asked the wren to the verse. 
Oh, don’t be silly! Answered the poem,
That would be perverse.

Let’s go play in the snow, 
said the poem in hope.
Okay then, said the wren, 
Can I take a ride when we go home?
We can slide down the slope, 
and toboggan again and again.


Lesley Scoble, December 2023

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Secret 4th Verse (Click if you’d like to read it)

I wrote a fourth verse since publishing this post. It is about another traditional seasonal animal that is not included on Melissa’s d’Verse Tuesday Poetics Prompt list. It is our faithful, beloved robin.

A robin wanted to join in
Can I also take the poem for a spin?
Hop on said the wren,
And we’ll slide down again!
The poem agreed with the wren.

L. S. (December 15th)

Listen to the wren talking to the poem. (I recorded him singing in a tree)

Time Lapse Video

Here is a brief (30 secs) time lapse video showing the process of my drawing of the wren.

A little bit about…

Celtic myth
My birthday is in January and according to the Celts, the little wren is my spirit animal. I can identify with that! I am little and it is not unknown to see me darting about beneath the undergrowth. 

St Stephen’s Day and the Wrenboys
Once upon a time, bachelors hunted the beautiful little wren. They were called Wrenboys and hunted the luckless little bird on a day of ‘wild revelry’. 

The wrenboys stoned the birds and skewered them on poles or pitchforks to celebrate St Stephen’s Day or ‘Wren Day’ on 26th December. They might also tie the collected birds to holly branches alive. People deemed it lucky to be handed a feather from the poor songbird. Can you believe it? 

Not wanting to sign off on this gruesome note—I’ll leave you with a quote from one of England’s greatest poets, William Blake.

William Blake mentions the wren…
William Blake wrote his poem Auguries of Innocence in 1803 and published it in 1863 (no rush then?). The principal theme of the poem is kindness to animals and children. (I think I would like Mr. Blake). I quote two lines about the wren from this poem.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov’d by men.

William Blake

Thank you, Melissa, for your interesting, and seasonal D’verse Tuesday Poetics Prompt. I wish you a very happy Christmas holiday.

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Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.