Teach Primary Issue 19.6

POEM 2 The Dragon Survey Dear pet owner, Have you just taken on a new pet dragon? If so, please answer these questions... Is your dragon a spy? Would it rather eat salt and vinegar, beef Monster Munch or cheese and onion crisps? Does your dragon hold a driving licence? Is it signed to a well-known football club? Has your dragon been on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’? Will your dragon be made available in all bookshops? Has your dragon made a nest in the hedgerow? When will your dragon next go to the hairdresser’s? Does your dragon need to refuel at the petrol pumps? Does your dragon help you with your homework? When do you take your dragon for ‘walkies’? If your dragon fades, will you need a bicycle pump? Does your dragon hang out in art galleries? Is your dragon wearing a pink tutu? Does your dragon consider rats to be friends and cats to be something to avoid? What is your dragon’s favourite film? What will your dragon say when offered peanut butter and banana sandwiches? Is your dragon famous for rapping with Stormzy? Does your dragon have its own legends? Does your dragon remember stepping into a swarm of bees one summer? If your dragon laughed, would its belly quiver like jelly? What is its favourite bedtime story? Is it taking its time to travel fromWorksop to Wimbledon Common? Would it choose a Mars Bar or a Curly Whirly? Will your dragon become a couch-potato or a chilli-breather? Please send your response to us by dragon courier. POEM 3 What My Pet Frost Dragon Knows where best to hide from the stinging fly, when the wind will blow from the cold north, why the shape-shifting clouds are restless, when the sun will unlock the dawn, how the blackbird hides as the falcon dives, why the smooth-snake sun-sleeps, why decay seeps into the rivers, when the seas will no longer throng with the mackerel-song, what time the cuckoo sings greedily for its supper, when the swifts arrive as Spring unbuttons the leaves from the trees. My frost dragon knows who to fear, who to hold dear, who to ignore; why some die who should live, whether the minotaur’s maze exists and if the salmon’s milky eye can see; my dragon knows whether the answer is frost, the flower or the flame. All poems (c) Pie Corbett 2025 T E ACH RE AD I NG AND WR I T I NG www.teachwire.net | 79