There's a 15 year old boy in Worcestershire, called Josh Dyer, and I'm a huge fan. He has a couple of poems entered in the Worcestershire Young Poet Laureate of the Year 2020 competition, and I can see him becoming a future British Poet Laureate.
This first one is for Remembrance, and is called ' One Thousand Men Are Walking'
One thousand men are walking
Walking side by side
Singing songs from home
The spirit as their guide
they walk toward the light milord
they walk towards the sun
they smoke and laugh and smile together
No foes to outrun
these men live on forever
in the hearts of those they saved
a nation truly grateful
for the path of peace they paved
they march as friends and comrades
but they do not march for war
step closer to salvation
a tranquil steady corps
the meadows lit with golden beams
a beacon for the brave
the emerald grass untrampled
a reward for what they gave
they dream of those they left behind
and know they dream of them
forever in those poppy fields
there walks one thousand men
isn't it great? For a young man to be so thoughtful and appreciative!
This second one, for me, is even more remarkable. He seems to really understand how dementia is for people. Perhaps his Grandmother is a sufferer, I don't know. But I find this one so beautiful, and so, so moving. It's called 'An Identity For Someone Who's Forgotten Theirs'
Her face is an ancient tapestry
Bleached by suns now dead and old
Her mind like a pond held stagnancy
Now that time had taken a hold
Her name to her was meaningless
Though it was spoken in motherly tone
Of course by now she was motherless
Of course by now she’s alone
Not alone in a sense of person for
She was packed in with them like mosaic
To sit and watch flowers forever more
Whilst the new ones became the archaic
It’s funny to say she was young once
That once there was youth in her heart
She made every decision with impatience
She cried ‘Romeo,Romeo,Wherefore art?’
Of course those days are gone now
Like the stars that once touched her face
But sometimes on a quiet summer sundown
The seams of time begin to unlace
As she smiles with that ageless rhapsody
I heard tales she should know to have told
I try to maintain her life like a tapestry
Now that time has taken a hold
I don't know what the future holds in store for young Josh; but whatever it is, I hope it's good. He has a lot to teach us about humility, respect and remembrance
