Poem of the Week: 'The Things you Find in a Poet's Beard' (section) by A. F. Harrold

The Things You Find in a Poet’s Beard (section)

There are fleas and flies and knots and nits,

breadcrumbs, marmite stains and bits

of pencils lost in the distant past,

coffee dribbles from a thermos flask.

Spiders’ webs and sparrows’ nests,

string that they use for old men’s vests,

bits of dinner from yesterday,

orange pips and strips of hay.

Chips glued in with tomato ketchup.

Bits of driftwood sometimes fetch up

and tangle about in the twisty hair

the poet grows on his chin and there

are knitting needles, lengths of twine…

Oh no! Hang on! That’s a porcupine.

Koala bears peer out and chew,

there’s a cockatiel and a cockatoo.

A sloth blinks slowly under the fur

And if you listen close there’s a happy purr.

Did this make you chuckle? The opening poem of A. F. Harrold’s Things You Find in a Poet’s Beard, it demystifies The Poet while producing amusing poetry. The collection is a book of catchy rhyme, light humour, and playful imagination: you befriend bears, beetles, bees; you listen into their bright dreams, and you’re touched by the tender letters. For instance, the Hedgehog Simon writing to his mom ‘I saw a fox last night, / did as you always said / and rolled into a ball. […] Wish you were here, / love Simon’.

Accompanied by Chris Riddell’s comic pencil sketches, this is a book of poetry that delights children and grown-ups alike with its innocence and its rhyme. Available to purchase from our website here.

By Eiffel Gao