children – elisabeth pike

#69

I’ve said it before butI want it always to be like this:little people in command of their space, walking to the drawer to get paper,appearing at the doorway in funny hats.Calling ‘mummy’ in the night.This is their safe space,Their kingdom.

#52

We sit there and watch them, us five, as the sand martins dip and dive towards their home. The young wait at the door, their heads peeping out. Across the river from them, I sit with my young tribe And think how fast the time has gone, And how they have grown. These three beautiesContinueContinue reading “#52”

#13

Sometimes I want it to go on forever: this exhaustion in the summer evening, this ache in my belly of love for these little people who need me. The thought of them growing up is too painful to think about just now. Let’s pretend you will always come and sit on my lap for cuddles,ContinueContinue reading “#13”

July Thunder

We are at playgroup; the last of term in a heatwave. The grass has turned to straw, and the children run about in their swimming costumes. The colour goes out from the sky though, and there is a clap of thunder that makes us all jump. The rain falls on us like God is pouringContinueContinue reading “July Thunder”

They are like jewels

They are like jewels, these people, They shine in a room of closed off doors. At toddler group, in a rowdy room of children’s choruses, I see a mother start to cry. I think her child has hurt her and it has suddenly all become too much, but I do not know really, I amContinueContinue reading “They are like jewels”

Stella del Mattino

Sitting in the car on a rainy day, waiting for you. One child calls ‘mummy, mummy’ from the back seat, the other breathes a slow, sleep-filled breath. Stella del mattino plays and this is the moment I can snatch to write a poem, A moment I had not seen before.