Wildlife poetry

I very rarely write poems but I was reminded yesterday of a lovely project I was involved in a few years ago to write poems about various garden 'beasties' as part of a Scottish Natural Heritage activity pack for parents of pre-school children. The poems, factual but fun, about worms, bees, frogs, etc were attractively presented on colour postcards with information about the species on the back. The pack has proved so popular it's barely still in print, but can still be downloaded as pdf files here.

I hope I might be able to use the poems next week when I'm exploring the wildlife of Abriachan Forest with groups of children from Invernesshire schools as part of Moniack Mhor's project 'The Written World'.

The Honey-comb Cellar Club
Sista you betta get some dance steps
You gotta waggle that tail, stamp ya hairy legs
Ya betta buzz, ya betta fling, shake ya sting
At the pollen sweet as honey in the flower ding-a-ling.
Cos we’z the funky friskers, beez-rapping sistas
Stripy black and yella down the Honeycomb Cellar.
We birl with the buddleia, dally with the daisies
Pick up pollen, fly home to feed the babies.

Save the Small Publisher (and get 33% off!)

SALT, publisher of my most recent short story collection, The Searching Glance, have been in financial difficulties. Close to the brink, they are clawing their way back through the 'Just One Book' campaign. Readers of short literary fiction and poetry are invited to show their support for small independent publishers of these non-commercial genres by buying one book from Salt's titles. The impact in the press and in £££ has been startling, a testimony to the respect SALT have gained for their niche.

So, just a reminder that buying a copy of The Searching Glance from SALT here will be contributing to the campaign... and there's 33% off until the end of August.