POEM FROM YOUNG CARER’S With it being the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth I mentioned that his Under Milkwood was originally called The Town That Was Mad. We created mad characters for our own Mad Town and turned the ideas into a long Poem. The contributors are mentioned at the end of the piece. THE TOWN THAT WAS MAD BOSSY BETTY bosses teachers, mums and the police. CHARLIE THE CLOWN bumps his bottom on the ground walks very wobbly like a penguin sacked by the circus. JUMPING JOE jumps through the streets like a kangaroo, leaps and dives over houses, bus stops and hotels. Relaxed, lounging on his couch on the neighbour’s roof, he then glides through the air, sky dives down next door’s chimney, shoots back up faster than lightening, because they’ve lit the fire. SPIKEY STEVE jumps over cactuses, touches them, hugs them. When no one’s looking, puts them into people’s houses, near the windows, on the fire, in your bed or on the roof. SPIKEY STEVE wears prickly spikes instead of clothes. No one sits by him on the bus, or swims near him in the pool. STUPID STACEY walks in front of buses, runs into walls travels on the roof of Arriva Trains like the Polar Express. DOPEY DONALD married STUPID STACEY over cakes made of balls and flowers. Later, a helicopter flew over, exploded, raining penguins then rainbows. LAZY LEWIS lies and sleeps on the sofa, stuck like glue. Too lazy to chew, too lazy to cook, his mum pours food down his mouth. Never washes his body, never cleans his clothes. Every Sunday, his mum swooshes clear cold water from the garden hose. He leaps up like a frightened frog, but never blows his nose. NOISY NAT never shuts up, talks louder than a tiger’s roar. In the library she’s so noisy people drop their books. Louder than full blast music, Big Ben’s clock, screechier than scraping chairs. SWINGING SIMON has arms as long as trees
swings through the town from lamp post to post. Nosy, devious Simon, hears every little sound, but the one thing he never touches is the cold hard ground. CONNOR THE CAN plays a different part every day. As a Coca Cola can he burps, when beans, he jumps. On days when he’s a Weed Killer Can, he sprays the woods. As WD40, he squeaks all day looking for bikes to fix, and when a Paint Can, turns brown fences into neon green or vivid pink. He sprays churches, bridges, cars and signs as a Watering Can. On the day he chose to be TNT that was the end of CONNOR THE CAN. TOMMY TOUCH enjoys making his teacher mad, by touching the computer. Loves hearing adults screech, shout, scream or yap with anger. Touches all the cooking ingredients, messes up the kitchen, unscrews medicine bottles, plays Knock and Run, presses door bells, tries car doors. In school, rips up Maths, Science and Geography examination sheets. HAPPY HARRY is as happy as a little girl with flowers. Every day he shakes every hand in the neighbourhood. If he falls and cuts his leg, he’s up in a second, skips happily away. CREATED AND WRITTEN BY:BOSSY BETTY – Courtney and Bethan CHARLIE the CLOWN and JUMPING JOE – Keira, Callum and Clara SPIKY STEVE- - Kelvin Brown Donkin STUPID STACEY and DOPEY DONALD – Emily and Page LAZY LEWIS and NOISY NAT – Courtney, Bethan and Clara SWINGY SIMON – Cian CONNOR the CAN – Sam, Josh, Emily and Lewis TOMMY TOUCH and HAPPY HARRY – Clara TWO COLOUR POEMS by Bethan and Courtney Blue Sky filled with paintings clouds shaped like stars and sheep. The sky’s screen turns from blue to grey.
Red is the colour of love, roses for Mums, roses for lovers, boxes of chocolate for friends, shaped like blood red hearts. PEDAL GO by Izak Donkin Izak whizzes across the hall. ‘It’s good exercise’ he says. The Pedal Go makes rolling noises as he twists and turns through corners. ‘This is easy’ Izak says falling to the floor with a thud. THE CAT SAT by Olivia The cat sat in the hat, the dog barked at the bat, the crowd started to yell with a splat my brother fell.