Skeleton Architecture

Do you do any of those photo challenges on Instagram? I used to do it more than I do now, but I still take part in the So Good in Every Way  fortnightly themes (sometimes), and the Snap Happy Britmums daily prompts (again, sometimes). Todays prompt was words, and I was sitting in my kids' school this morning, waiting to help out with walking a bunch of kids to another school, and thinking about how the rhyme, 'sticks and stones' has changed as schools have become more cognicent of the long term damaging effects of verbal bullying. When I was a kid we taunted bullies that words would never hurt me. My own eating disorder, other self harming, and so much other stuff can testify to the nonsense of that. Now my kids are taught the rhyme 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can really hurt me.' and it's true. Physical violence is rubbish, but we should never underestimate the long term harm of verbal violence. Hence my poem today. It's almost a ...

I seem to be thinking in iambic pentameter at the moment. I have a poem to write, which must be in well-formed iambic pentameter, and I want it to be perfect, so I'm practicing, although I'm not sure if that's making me better, or just giving me more reason to think I'm rubbish! Anyway, the metre in this one is not right - not enough stresses despite the right number of syllables, but I like it anyway, so I'm sharing it with you lovely people. I wrote it about one of our favourite little acts of kindness, although you might call it littering! The Pennies You know when something is 99p and that pointless penny enters your purse? That penny that must cost more to just be! That penny that makes holes in pockets worse? I save all those pennies up in a box: the ones from coffee, the ones from our tea, the ones from buying emergency socks; all of the pennies that find ways to me. I save them up, then take out a handful to pop in pockets and give to the k...