Poetry From Year 4, St John’s College School

Mr Ashley Smith, Head of English at St John’s College School, Cambridge, sent us in these wonderful poems from his Year 4 class. Using the Cloud Appreciation Society as inspiration, they have written their own poems to accommpany their play “Journey on a Cloud”.

You can also see:
“Canvas of a Blue Sky” by Freddie.
“Clouds” by Mia.
and “Sunset” by Ellie.

Clouds

Would you think a person was crazy if they told you a cloud was pink?
Would you think a person was crazy if they told you clouds were alive?
Would you?

Clouds are humans that have not yet been born,
Imagine looking at a cloud and saying
That could be my new sister!

Beth (aged 9)

Blue Sky

Floating forward to its never-ending destination in the sky,
Bouncing over, house to house,
Never the same, always different,
Grey, pink, red and purple,
Never simple, always complex,
A transforming delight that everyone loves,
Never stopping, always moving,
Playing bumper cats moving into each other,
A fun fair? A room of blue?
What next will the clouds do?

Edward (aged 8)

Clouds

Clouds float in candy cotton puffs.
Laid gently on the blue canvas sky.
Dark and mysterious as they drift across the sky.
They die and reform as they change shape.
Never the same, changing every second.
The sun paints the clouds,
Orange and pink
On the navy blue ceiling of the world.

Bibi (aged 8)

Clouds

Can you see the endless clouds
Continuously splashed on a blue carpet?
They always change, rocking in an ultramarine ocean,
Bristling like the beards of ancestors.
The sky appears indigo and navy blue.
Then the hand of God abstractly paints a yellow streak,
That becomes lightning.
The clouds cry with sadness
Shedding a million tears.

Chaaya (aged 9)

Clouds

I see the clouds slowly floating by
Up high in the clear blue sky
Gentle, creamy, whipped clouds
Changing shape – a pig or a butterfly?
Drifting, the candyfloss clouds fly
Underneath the summer sky.
I see the clouds drifting by.

Heather (aged 9)

Clouds

Drifting through the sky they go,
When they’ll stop, I don’t know!

Dancing high up in the air,
Where they go, I don’t care!

Floating high above the ground,
Then, spinning all around!

Clouds are wonderful,
Clouds are magical!

Anna (aged 9)

Clouds

Clouds, clouds,
Why are they white?
Why not red or pink?
Why are clouds fluffy, wet and moist?
Clouds, clouds
Why do you cry?
Why do you cry all over our land?
Clouds, clouds
Why do you fly?
Why don’t you fall?
Clouds, clouds
Why do you make loud claps of thunder?
Why don’t you talk?

Jolyon (aged 9)

Clouds

Turquoise mountains,
Don’t bother counting,
I’m normally white,
But not at night,
Red and blue right up high,
Purply pink in the sky,
A tart dash of red,
Above my head,
I taste of purple delight,
Swathed in white,
I have a hue,
Night sky blue,
If I collapse,
The world will fail,
But do not fret,
I am not frail.

Patrick (aged 9)

Clouds

I am a cloud,
My hair is crystal white
I dance gracefully across an azure stage,
I change shapes as I glide
I dance because I like the music up in the sky,
My dance will never end
I’ve been forced not to stop,
It’s really hard
My legs ache,
I need to stop, to sleep,
But I can’t.

Isabel (aged 8)

Clouds

The candy floss clouds
So delightful to watch
They float across the sky
And behind the horizon

Changing shape from
Dolphins to pigs
To cellos to hens
As they dance across the azure

Colour mixing
Peach to crimson
Scarlet to violet
Leaping across the moonlight

The candy floss clouds
So delightful to watch
They float across the sky
And behind the horizon

Tilly (aged 9)

Clouds will be…

Swaying, drifting, darting, shining,
While flowing through the sun-lit sky.
Balletic poses pirouetting through the air,
Mysterious yet shining everywhere.
Dark and frightening, a storm brings swathes of indigo and forget-me-not blue.
Clouds ever-changing to different shapes.
Small but complex and full of light.
Clouds still scud through they sky at night.

Cressida (aged 8)

Magical Transformations

Constantly changing,
Air brushed sky,
Never lonely
They stay up there until they cry
Painted on a cerulean sky
Forever analysing the Earth

Theo (aged 9)

Clouds

The sky is blue
The grass is green
But if it was the other way round I would start laughing
Then fall through the ground
But luckily we have clouds
Gentle and frail
Who catch all the paint from the great artist’s pail
It’s lovely just looking at the gentle clouds
That’s why plants hate being stuck in the ground
So they climb up the wooden walls of the trees
Tendrils twisting ever higher
Reaching for the sky
Escaping the green below
Upwards to the blue beyond

Sam (aged 8)

The Great Expanse

The great expanse of the sky is filled with the joy of clouds,
Sunset light seeps through me making a magnificent view,
My soft fluff will keep you warm for the night,
I swiftly float through the gates of heaven,
I fill the hearts of playing children as I turn into candy floss,
My friends gradually change their shape,
I’m going now,
Goodbye!

Sama (aged 9)

The Magic Arrow

The magic arrow
Created by the clouds for everyone
Transforms into a cloudy car,
A big ship that sails the sky
To a glittering goblet of beer
To a big man with a wide smile
And a big bag of sweets for the people of the world
The magic arrow in the clouds
For everyone to see.

Oscar (aged 8)

Upside-Down

Imagine if the world was upside-down,
Rain came up instead of pouring on the town.
The clouds would be sad when the sun would shine,
We could not tell, we could only mime.
The clouds all twisted in their dance,
Looking like they were in a trance.

Amelie (aged 9)

9 thoughts on “Poetry From Year 4, St John’s College School”

  1. Priyanshee Sharma says:

    Good And inspiring poems…..

  2. Hillarie Thomas says:

    I am inspired by the poems and photos on you website.
    now that I have found you I’ll visit you very often.

    Thanks

  3. Mark J Peacock says:

    Beth’s is best. I don’t think any of the others are very good at all. Children’s poetry in general isn’t very good though, and I doubt the sincerity of the emotion conveyed in most of these pieces.

  4. Jake says:

    I would also give Tilly’s 5 stars

  5. Jake says:

    I think Tilly’s is by far the best because it’s so original and sounds like a grown up has written it

  6. Andrea Lucia Guimaraes avatar Andrea Guimaraes says:

    I think these poems are so great because children don’t stop the habit of simply watch the sky…

  7. Sue Jones says:

    WOW!Are you sure you are only 8 or 9? How mature you are and what fabulous poetry. Keep looking at your world and writing about it.

  8. Shakira says:

    Wow! These are brilliant; keep writing, guys!

  9. Sue Shaw says:

    Brilliant!….and each so individual! I Like them all but especially Theo’s poem. Well done all of you!

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