These incredible poems were created by Scholes Village Primary School and Holme Primary School for the Our Darkness and Light Animation.
Scholes Village Primary School
Nyx – The Night
The night is a teenaged girl
She has long, black, silky hair
She can flick her hair down to become the night sky
Her eyes are the shape of the stars. They gleam like the starlight
Her big black pupils are circular like the moon.
She wears a smart black t-shirt
And a long black skirt with stars moving and shooting all across it
Her clothes are paper-thin
The night she wears a cowboy hat and calls “yee-hah” across the heavens
A black necklace sits around her throat
When she is calm, her voice is smooth like night birds singing
When she is angry her voice is deep and croaky like frogs at sunset.
The night moves gracefully.
She tiptoes like a ballerina and then leaps into the air
She flies like the wind blowing
She glides like a ghost owl
She lands on her hands and knees like someone praying
The night’s friends are the moon, the stars and the night animals –
Badgers, foxes, bats and hedgehogs,
Streetlights, headlamps, candles, lanterns,
The ocean glowing with plankton and deep-down angler fish,
Lighthouses on the shore, fireworks and flares when your ship starts sinking,
Christmas lights, Chinese lanterns, traffic signals,
Glow-worms and fireflies like flashing bees
The night is cruel when it’s midnight and you wake up alone
When you can’t see ahead of you and you don’t know what’s coming next
When the noises come and scare you
When it’s dark outside and you have to get out of bed
When everyone’s sleeping and you are the only one awake.
The night is cruel in wintertime.
It bursts out when you’re not expecting it.
The night is kind when you need to sleep
When it makes the lights seem brighter
When it gives cover for magical visitors
When it means that Santa’s coming
When it’s Halloween and it helps you to scare people
When you trick or treat
When it’s bonfire night and the fireworks dance
When you look out of the window and see all the constellations
When it gives shelter to the nocturnal animals
When it’s dark you can see the light better
When the wind is breezy-soft the night might be singing.
Hemera – The Day
The daylight is younger than the night
She is a young girl with long curly hair that smells of roses
Her hair is golden at the tips and fiery at the roots
Her eyes are dark blue like the summer sky
A golden halo hovers above her head
She dresses like a queen with a white ruff the colour of the clouds
She wears brown leather boots to walk the hills and mountains
She has a star for a nose-stud
Her dress is orange and yellow like the sun
When she is happy, her voice is soft like a song-thrush singing –
Like an angel humming in heaven –
Like dancing clouds in the graceful blue sky
When she is angry, her voice is deep and mysterious – stern like the growl of a wolf
She strolls and stomps like Taylor Swift.
She is sassy and dances like a disco ball
Her friends are the daylight animals –
Songbirds, chipmunks, baby rabbits, kittens, cows in the fields,
Snakes that bask on the rocks,
Rainbows that turn up in the sky
The day is cruel when she makes us moan about the heat
When the animals have to hide in the shade
When she burns the farmers’ crops
When she boils us and makes us put on sun-cream
When you feel like you are cooking in the sun
When the air is hotter than Ancient Egypt, scorching the pyramids
She is cruel when she leaves us at dusk
The day is jealous of the night, but she won’t admit it
In the morning, she acts like a moaning teenager – taking too long to get up
The day is kind when you go to the beach and dip your feet in the cool ocean
When she makes the plants grow and gives us food
When it’s time to get the paddling pool out
When the ice cream van comes
When you go to the park
When she smiles on you in winter
She is kind when it’s just warm enough
Even if you have no money, you are happy in the sunlight.
Holme Primary School:
LUGHNASADH
Shorts and t-shirts,
Fruits and flowers,
Blossom on the trees.
Summer dresses and short summer skirts,
Apples ripening in the sun.
The sweet scent of sunflowers,
Following the light across the sky
Water fights, picnics –
Summer freedom!
Lie-ins every day!
Always the weekend – no grumpy mornings.
Bananas and strawberries,
Ice cream and lollipops,
Cold drinks, cooling down the sweaty people,
Boiling and steaming in the Summer Sun.
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again
SAMHAIN
Feeling eerie, trapped and frightened
Worried that there might be monsters about!
Devils and mice, snow and ice,
Wolves haunting the ancient woods.
Badgers, bats and apple bobbing,
People dressed as skeletons, goblins and grim reapers
Cinammon spice,
Candy sweets,
Orange chocolate and hot cocoa take away the sharp edge of fear
And leave behind cold fingers and the scary-exciting feeling of a sparkler in your hand.
Plip! Plop! Plup!
The plippy, drippy raindrops fall through the Autumn leaves
Pumpkins glow on window sills,
While Autumn smoke and the cinder smell of bonfire toffee
Gives way to the burnt scent of fireworks banging in the darkest sky.
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again
WINTER SOLSTICE
Winter rabbits running through the frozen woods
Pine trees holding the blanketing snow
An open fire on an icy morning
Holly bushes and winter turkeys
Reindeer and Christmas trees
Red wine raisins, soft and sweet
Covered in sauce and alcohol free
Cinnamon hot chocolate and mince pies
The scent of chestnuts and pine needles
Presents given in the depths of winter
From Father Christmas and the Winter King
Ice water in the winter makes you cold inside and out
A nicer feeling than you might think
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again
IMBOLC
Sun rising, sap rising
Rainbows after the thunderstorms
Enthusiastic birds singing in the budding trees
The dawn chorus are welcoming new arrivals
Farmers working hard in the frozen fields
The earthy smell of the damp loam
Strength and power beneath the surface
Spring fairies and elves dancing optimistically
Among the fresh new rosebuds
Planning ahead for the year to come
While under the ground,
Sunflowers seeds with growth mindsets
Are waiting to bloom in the coming sun
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again
BELTANE
Long days and short nights
Green grass, blossom and butterflies
Jolly music and Morris-dancing at the folk festivals
Kites floating in the bright blue sky
Frogs, frogspawn, rabbits and lambs
Hares sprinting and boxing in the field,
Honey and hanging baskets and hot cross buns
These are things the summer yields
Spring colours in pastel shades
Fiddles, ukuleles, drums and bells on jangling shoes.
The maypole dancers turning and weaving in and out
Men in fox masks seated round the fire
Circus skills in the park,
Plate spinning, stilts and pogo sticks,
Bubbles, jugglers and unicycles.
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again
SUMMER SOLSTICE
Climbing trees and climbing mountains – climbing up to amber light
Gold and ochre in the fields
Longer days and shorter nights
Bikes rides on The Pennine Way
Up Home Moss if you’re feeling brave!
Light green leaves and lemonade
Holidays and trips away
Butterflies and barbecues at Blackpool Bridge
Strawberries and cream in the kitchen fridge
Watching Wimbledon on the telly
Summer parties with raspberry jelly
Swimming outside in the open-air pool
Finding ways to keep your cool
Holidays abroad in far-away climes?
Or playground sunbathing on summer lunchtimes
Dark into light, day into night, the year turns again