Superm̶a̶r̶k̶e̶t̶Forest Inspired Poems
Below are poems from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School, St John the Baptist Junior School and Hampton Hill Junior School. The writings were inspired by a poem called ‘Fishbones Dreaming’ by Matthew Sweeney. As well as looking at plants, the children thought about supermarket produce and its origin. The activity was led by Arji Manuelpillai and Dr Sarah Edwards and you can read more about the project here: Latest post about Young People’s projects.
This project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). NERC is the driving force of investment in environmental science and is part of UK Research and Innovation.
Download the poems or read them all below.
Who is this tree for? by the Young People at Heatham House
It’s medicine not strong enough for the blindness we spoon,
For the writers who craft a violin out of a body, making beautiful sand when I’m gone,
For those traditional healers and shamans who gather my leaves to embrace the spirits,
For good people, people huge as the world,
For people who don’t see beauty,
For people who have nowhere to go in the afternoons,
For people who give themselves away forgetting,
For those looking for ideas or some time away,
For those who are afraid not to be loved and love,
For people who cannot help being kind,
To the hand bunched in terror against them,
For people who need to shelter from the rain,
Its beauty disguised by its children’s demolition.
St Edmund’s Catholic Primary poems
These Trees by St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
These trees
keep me alive everyday
growing beside me
with the oxygen we need
These trees bring me happiness
give me what I crave, the fruit,
And the freedom, the life
through their roots and leaves
When I’m sad they lift me up
Drench me in joy like eating cake
These trees, calm me down
like listening to music
They give me shelter in rain
make homes for the animals
These trees are for all of us
keeping us healthy, amusing us
brightening up our darkest days.
Paper by Eleanor and Max from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
It wasn’t always like this, I used to be a tree in a forest as green as an apple
After that I was shredded to pieces. My family were taken with me.
That terrible experience carried on as I was turned into a white sheet, shiny like gold.
I was put in a package and sent to a school. I was scratched and pulled until this beautiful poem was written on me.
Crystal by Luke and Lily from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
I lay in human hands; they deliver me into a dark safe.
I didn’t like it this way, so I dreamed back
Back to when I was in a shop people staring at me all day with expensive watches next to me
I didn’t like it to be like this way, so I dreamed back
To when I was being dug up, loud noises and machines and shovels knocking on my head
I didn’t like it this way, so I dreamed back to when I was lying around on the cold earth having privacy and minding my own business. I liked it this way.
Medicine by Polly from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
A shattered glass sitting in a big truck
I didn’t like it this way, I remember when
I was sitting in a factory mixed with other chemicals
I didn’t like it this way, I remember when I was a beautiful calendula in the wild
I liked it this way, I remember when I was a little seed being planted in the dirt
Chocolate’s Memories by Lily W from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
Chocolate’s sunbathing in the sun,
Chocolates smell so fun,
It didn’t last all that long.
So, he dreamed back not long ago.
Back when it was just soil, growing tall and proud, a little seed began to sprout,
He didn’t last all that long, so he dreamed back when he was young.
Back when he was growing leaves, so fresh so tall, a little pod began to rise.
Untitled by Fletcher from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
I was on a plate in China, I was chained inside a case.
I didn’t like that as I was being eaten on a plate
I was in a freezer frozen scared and alone, I didn’t like that as all I wanted was a home.
I was alone stuck under a gate, I tried to run away but they stuck me in a case.
I’m running in a field now with all my friends I like it this way that’s why it’s the end.
Untitled by David from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
I was in pain. I was being broken in half and broken into bits by small children.
I was a normal cacao tree. My conscious was connected to my seeds. I was relaxing in the hot Ghanian sun until
A cacao farmer snipped off all of my seeds. I was in pain. I went to a factory, and I got mashed into bits and I had cocoa powder, powdered milk and sugar. I was frozen and I was hoping that I would be put out of my misery. I was in pain.
Table by Pola from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
I was just a seed, until I grew,
To become a complete, beautiful tree.
But something came, I didn’t have a clue.
My green leaves fell to the floor and that hurt me.
This is horrible I hate this.
I got laid down, chopped into pieces,
My eyes stained from crying, ready to start again.
I saw my friends starting with creases,
I wanted to run away, but I know I can’t.
This is horrible I hate this.
Someone cutting, sawing right through me,
I am turning into something I didn’t imagine.
Can this just end? Someone please tell me,
I think no one can imagine.
This is horrible I hate this
I got shipped away, I don’t know where,
I am now something completely different, a table.
I can see loads of children.
I’m in a classroom, with a teacher sticking on me a name tag.
This is now my life, I can’t change it.
Tea by a student from St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School
Here I am, a drained teabag
I dream I’m back beside foul-smelling waste.
I am sitting at the bottom of a boiling cup of tea
I cannot see,
The heat hurts so much
I do not like it here.
I went back.
I am being poured into a bag with string and lay at the top.
I am being ground into a powder
I feel grainy.
I am spread out amongst others
I do not like it here,
I went back.
I am a leaf being pulled off a tree,
The pulling is very painful.
I am being taken away from my family.
I hate it here.
I go back.
I am swishing around in harmony with the tree,
I am with my family.
I love it here.
I stay here
It’s perfect.
St John the Baptist Junior School poems
Chicken by Hayley and Tiffany from St John the Baptist Junior School
As greasy as a battered sausage
coated in oil
A chicken burger
As scrumptious as can be.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
Wet and sloppy,
All over your hands,
The flesh is all bloody
Not the life that I planned.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
They pulled my neck,
Made it click,
All the blood flowing out,
Makes me feel sick.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
Alive at last,
The life I loved,
All I want is to be this way,
Alive at last.
Stay the same,
All I want is to stay the same.
Chicken Nuggets by Erin and Billy from St John the Baptist Junior School
In the happy meal, getting picked out first, waiting to get eaten.
I didn’t like it this way, so I looked back
Back when I was in the lorry, getting transported to the restaurant with hundreds of others like me.
I didn’t like it this way, so I looked back
Back when I was in the factory, by machinery everywhere, clanging and bashing. Getting ready to go into the lorry,
I didn’t like it this way, so I looked back
Back on the farm, running free, happy as ever
I liked it this was so I kept thinking of this
Crab by Simon and Joe from St John the Baptist Junior School
On a posh street, in a posh restaurant, being eaten by a posh fellow
Walking back to reality,
On a cold, scrapy boat off the coast of Tasmania.
Walking back to reality,
Trapped, afraid, terrified of what was going to happen to him
Walking back to reality,
On the ocean floor, happy, calm, eating shrimp.
He stayed in the promised land.
French Fries by Hailey and Viktoria from St John the Baptist Junior School
The french fries are about to be eaten,
Looking back to their old memories,
Drizzled with olive oil and melted golden cheese.
Looking back to their old memories,
When they were little potatoes, getting chopped into pieces by a very sharp knife
Looking back to their old memories,
When they were planted in a little farm in a little pot.
They wished they could stay there forever.
Chocolate by Ben and Dylan from St John the Baptist Junior School
Digesting mush in the belly
of the beast, a human, who loves
eating lots and lots of chocolate.
He didn’t like it this way so, he looked back
It was a bar in a wrapper
Hot and melting, sweet and delicious.
He didn’t like it this way so, he looked back
Now in the factory, melted and fused,
Squished, shaped, poured and placed.
He didn’t like it this way so, he looked back
It was a bean on the bush with
Lots of fresh air, birds tweeting,
Cows mooing and chickens coo cooing.
He liked it this way, so he didn’t cocoa back.
Oak Wood by Riley and Kostia from St John the Baptist Junior School
Being cut off,
Oh, the good ol’ days of being a tree
And feeling the windy breeze
Being in a truck,
Oh, the good ol’ days of being a tree
With all my friends for all to see!
Factory,
Oh, the good ol’ days of being a tree
In a factory being cut up
Chair,
Oh, the good ol’ days of being a tree
Now I’m being sat on by a bee.
Calamari by Jaimie and Eva from St John the Baptist Junior School
Calamari on a plate
Fresh out of the fryer
The way I desire
On a plate with lemon and aioli.
I’m so lonely.
Swish swish in the sea
But I just hate how
I’m on a plate.
Chicken by Hayley and Tiffany from St John the Baptist Junior School
As greasy as a battered
sausage coated in oil
A chicken burger
As scrumptious as can be.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
Wet and sloppy,
All over your hands,
The flesh is all bloody
Not the life that I planned.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
They pulled my neck,
Made it click,
All the blood flowing out,
Makes me feel sick.
I wish I could go back
I really do,
But if I did I
would not have met you
Alive at last,
The life I loved,
All I want is to be this way,
Alive at last.
Stay the same,
All I want is to stay the same
Chicken Cutlet Dreaming by Spencer and Laila from St John the Baptist Junior School
Chicken bones lay in the oily bucket.
He was a lonely legbone covered in grease.
Soon the dogs would be in for him.
He didn’t like it to be this way.
So, he flew back.
Back to when he was in the fryer.
With his mates all beside him.
Smelling the oily and mucky fumes.
He didn’t like it to be this way.
So, he flew back.
Back to when he was in the ol’ convertible
With lamb shoulders and pork chops.
Trapped in a rusty metal cage.
He felt cold, dark and smelly,
Makes me feel a pain to my belly.
He didn’t like it to be this way.
So, he flew back.
Orange Juice by Temitope and Curtis from St John the Baptist Junior School
Orange juice lay in an acid pit.
It was slop slowly dissolving into the acid.
Soon it would be gone.
It hated this life.
It sunk into itself and dreamed back.
Back to when it was in the cup.
Beside the lunch of its drinker.
Raised up to his face
It hated this life.
It sunk into itself and dreamed back.
Back to when it was grabbed from the tree
Squeezed into a container
Transported to a new place.
It hated this life.
It sunk into itself and dreamed back.
Back to when it was growing on a stalk
Swinging happily for days
Feeling its strength growing. Its seeds ready to make a new tree.
It loved this life
It dreamed hard to stay there.
Leather Jacket by Autumn from St John the Baptist Junior School
I remember those days,
When I was young
Alive, happy and plump
But then he picked me
Said my skin was alright
Took me away and locked me up tight
Then I was shot, my last breath was squeezed out of me.
I remember those days,
When I was a slice of meat
Held there with only one string.
But then he skinned me,
Threw the rest in the bin,
Took me to the factory,
Life was a sin.
I remember those days,
A single bit of skin
Held in the factory, a new life will begin.
But there I was on a shop shelf,
Ready to be tried on.
Bought, life was hell.
Thought I was vegan
Life was a lie.
I remember those days
When I was alive.
Lemonade by Jack and Qasim from St John the Baptist Junior School
I’m growing on a tree with birds singing around me
A light breeze rocking me gently.
A hand grasps me and pulls me from my tree
Roughly, the hand puts me in a basket just like many others.
The basket was lifted onto a truck.
It shuddered and shook, the noise was deafening.
They finally took me out of the box after a long journey.
They started to squeeze me, it was terrible and uncomfortable.
It hurt so much I could not bear with it
I was just juice in a bottle now
I got put in a box again, rattling against other bottles
The noise hit me and I sloshed about.
They put me on a freezing shelf
I was unable to move until someone reached out for me just like before
All of a sudden, they brought me home and I felt unknown
They put me in the cold cellar again
How sad I was then.
A Pencil by Darren and Sresht from St John the Baptist Junior School
A pencil, being sharpened and cut into pieces of wood going into the bin,
His dreams disappearing, his last looks were when he…
Going back to a flashback…
Stuffed up with stone. Stuck in a box, ready to be sent to the school.
It doesn’t feel good in the box, so he wanted to get out.
Going back to a flashback…
In the factory, made into a shape which he has no idea about.
The clatter of machines, the shivering conveyor,
No, he needs to go further back,
Going back to a flashback…
In a rural area of nowhere. He and his friends were cut into pieces with a horrid noise and ‘chainsaw’ spelt on it. It doesn’t sound good.
Going into a flashback…
In 1986, back to when he was happily living, it was great, he wanted to stay with his other seed friends.
Cake by Verity and Aoife from St John the Baptist Junior School
Here is how your cake is made, maybe by you, maybe by me or maybe in a factory, where all the machines all crunch or whirr although homemade ones are the ones I prefer. With eggs and flour, butter and milk, sugar and vanilla.
Chocolate cake, Victoria sponge, creamy, dense, light and fluffy, although sometimes cake can end up a bit scruffy.
The eggs you go to bake your cake with are made by mama chicken. She lays them in her little hut and then someone comes to pick them up.
The wheat grows slowly and happily in a field or farm.
The butter and milk you use to bake your cake are made by cows, that go moo.
That’s the time, yes it is, to mix it up, bowl, but it’s got to be big. Once you’ve done that in the oven it goes.
‘Ding’ mmm, that smell is beautiful.
Your cake is baked, it smells delicious.
Now for a slice.
Paper by a student from St John the Baptist Junior School
I was in the patch of grass, preparing my start to the growing stage. As I started to pop out of the ground.
I was happy. The lovely fields where I stood, tall in solidarity with my brothers and sisters I knew from when I was a seed.
I got chopped to bits, with a million others in the factory saying goodbye to family and friends.
I was sad. I was thin as air. Alone. Not a sound, a spark of light, or a width of measurement. I missed my friends, oh how I missed them.
I felt happy being used for the purpose of writing and drawing, but later I’ll have to say bye to my human.
I am sad. Deserted. Full of pain and anger. The horrible memories through my life. I don’t deserve this, nobody does. The bin. This smelly place is my only company.
If only I could go back.
Lemonade by Archie and Pablo from St John the Baptist Junior School
Mr Lemon was chillin’ on a tree having fun!
He liked this.
He was squashed and squashed painfully.
He didn’t like this.
After that he was taken to a restaurant. But when he arrived there, he did not like that place. He wished he was back on a tree.
Then he was put in a freezer, freezing cold, wanting to go back, to leave and go back to where he belonged, on a tree. Back to home.
The Dried Mango by Amelie and Kayley from St John the Baptist Junior School
In a lunchbox,
In a pot,
About to be eaten.
The mango lay and dreamt about her past.
The boiling hot heater swelled her up,
She began to look like an
Orange raisin.
The mango lay and dreamt about her past.
Her skin peeled off,
A knife sliced her heart,
The knife diced her arm.
The mango lay and dreamt about her past.
An old wrinkly hand, yanked her off a tree,
She screamed in pain,
She got dumped into a van.
The mango lay and dreamt about her past.
Growing, full of joy,
She danced and sang,
Happiness filled her heart.
She was free.
Crisps by Amy from St John the Baptist Junior School
Crisps were waiting on the shop shelf,
A packet quite plain,
Ready to be grabbed and shovelled into a human’s mouth.
It was not always like this,
It remembered the days before.
It remembered sharp blades at all angles,
Slicing it into paper-like strips,
Getting thrown into a boiling fryer,
And sealed up into a bag of plastic.
It was not always like this,
It remembered the days before.
It remembered being turned, tumbled and thrown,
Bumped, twisted and blown,
Until it was trapped in a fuming, grey place.
It was not always like this,
It remembered the days before.
It remembered when it was plucked from its lifeforce,
Tumbled into a big sack with many others just like itself.
It was not always like this,
It remembered the days before.
It remembered the time when it was not all bad,
It was growing under the soil next to its acquaintances.
It was like this,
This was what it was like to be free.
Pencil by a student from St John the Baptist Junior School
Tree growing from a seed
Growing big and tall
Colourful leaves falling
Drifting to the ground
Being cut,
An arrow through the head
Being driven to the factory,
Worried for what might happen ahead.
Made into shape and form
Being cut and torn
Smothered
A pencil being born
Arriving at a new home,
Sitting gathering dust
Waiting to be used,
Drawing is a must.
Colours flying from the page,
Red, yellow and blue
A drawing being made,
Multicoloured too…
The Squirrel Life by Andrew from St John the Baptist Junior School
Jumping from branch
To branch swinging
And singing
Every day they like to play
Giggling and laughing on the way
In a hurry, they scurry
Back to where they like it
In a tree were millions lay
Staring at their home
Not wanting to play as they
Lay there watching their home fall into hay
They don’t play, they don’t want to stay
But they know they have to pray
Running from tree to tree
Trying to find a home
When they all hope a friend comes to stay
Why don’t you stay with me
Full of glee they feel free
Jumping up and down
They turn that frown upside down
Jumping up and down they give him a crown
Knowing they can live another day and play again.
Hampton Hill Junior School poems
The Life of an Orange
I was once a seed in a faraway
Land. Distanced from sound and
Discussion. Planted in a farm a long long
Time ago.
I was once a
Sprout who started to point out of
The ground and that was
When life began, and bigger and
Bigger I grew.
I was once a plump fruit
With juice so close to bursting,
And picked off the emerald tree I
Was. Then I was chopped
Off an oak board, as juice
Erupted.
I was once put in the mouth,
The smell of other stenches blew me
Away and I continued to fall down
The continuous body.
I am now a smelly abandoned skin
Abandoned and left on the street.
I want to turn back, turn back
To the beginning when life was super sweet.
Chicken
Oh how being left in this bucket belonging to KFC isn’t so fun
I wish I could remember all the times, all the times that I was quite dumb
I wish I could get rid of all the memories of the factory
If only I could turn back time
Back to when I was growing up and aging in the sun,
The wind drifting over my feathers with others clacking in the distance,
I wish I could turn back time
I dream of days when I was young and yellow and just a chick
I was not (illegible words) the walk of this place
I wish I could turn back time
Forest by Isobel, Olyver, Serina & Marcus at Hampton Hill Junior School
Back to when I was a little seed placed in the wet, moist soil
When the worms passed by as I grew
I was happy there
I felt safe.
Back to when I was growing tall
So big that everything was small
I was young and strong
Listening to the birds’ sweet song
Only when everything went wrong.
I was warm there in those old days
Back to when I was in a lush green forest, I was happy there.
Machine came rushing in, cutting down my friends and family,
I was scared.
The evil look on the people’s faces as I fell and crashed to the ground,
It hurts
I shut my eyes slowly and dreamed back to the good old days,
When I felt safe.
Back to when I was in the factory
It was cold, damp and I was terrified
I felt broken
Pig by Ciara Dembo & co. at Hampton Hill Junior School
I lay in the mud
Believing everlasting happiness
The mud slimy on top of me
I was happy in those days
I, a joyful pig, started to notice
The weather turned into a storm
Beasts chasing me like I’m a pigeon
I got put into the factory and saw all my family
I wasn’t happy in those days
The chunky old pig was chopped up
He did not like that chop chop
Blood sweated everywhere and voila! He turned into bacon and bangers
He did not like that, I saw the words Maccy D’s
What could that mean for me?
Is this the end for little old me?
I wasn’t happy in those days
I was put in a bun, it was a disaster.
I couldn’t believe it, my life was flashing before me.
I had a family, this is the end,
I’m getting eaten by a disgusting beast,
I wasn’t happy in those days.
Skyscraper
It was on a street in London
Where the people worked and noise everywhere
I didn’t like it so I shut my eyes and dreamt back
The wind was soft for me but it
Blew the tiny statue of Rishi Sunak
I wish I wasn’t that famous
When I was breathing in the cold London air
Pigeons flying above the clouds
I dreamed back to the dreamy glistening water
Rishi Sunak told
To build a skyscraper
It was big
Corn by Amber, Poppy, & Joey at Hampton Hill Junior School
The corn lay on
The plate trickling
with butter
I didn’t really like to be this way
I looked back
Back to when I was in the supermarket
Back to when I was with cucumber and peppers
Living our best lives
2 months I was in there
I didn’t really like to be that way
So I closed my eyes and looked back
Corn thought back to the time when he
Had been healthy and yellow
In the open sunlight without
A care in the world
Me and my brother swaying in the wind
I liked to be this way
So I tried my best to stay here
Tree by Freddie, Dylan, Kenny & Grace at Hampton Hill Junior School
Thinking about when it was
Dead bark on the muddy ground
Feeling frozen and damp
Back to when I grown fully
I was picked away from my family
Into the basket with my clones
I didn’t like it, I was lonely
Back to when he was a healthy tree
With animals calling it home
He heard the people marching with their axes
He didn’t like it this way
He dreamed back to…
Seed in the muddy ground
I can hear the rain falling near me
I feel like I’m in a nightmare being suffocated
In the small, cramped space
Growing Bigger
On my way to the plate
Don’t be late for eight
I will be eaten
Left my mates
A feeling that I know I hate
Back to when I was growing bigger
And bigger I felt like I was screeching
And my heart was beating faster
I liked this feeling I’ve never felt it before
I felt big and strong within myself
Back to when I was put into the soil
The darkness surrounded me
It was the start of me
I like this
I waited, shut my eyes and stayed here
Elephant
When I was in the zoo
I hate the food and the people
I wish I was three again
I did not like it that way
When I was on a ship
In a cage towards the unknown island
Which is most likely to be a nightmare of a journey
or my career
I did not like it that way
When I was in a cage
There was rusted bars and was not comfortable to sleep in
I shut my eyes and dreamed of the happy days
I could see my bones they were all like a broken fish
At the end I didn’t like it that way
When I was in the old rust cage
I die in it, my fish look like fish bones
And my head feels like its broken
I miss the way my parents love me
I did not like it that way
The Teenager
Once there was a teenager
Laying in his bed
He heard a
Dark voice and it said
Help me, help me
I’m being chased by a bear
And if it catches me
He will put me in his bloody lair
I wish I was back in bed
And all these voices weren’t
In my head
I’m stuck in a tornado
Spinning round and round
It moves my head
Up and down
I wish I was back in bed
And all these voices weren’t
In my head
I am stuck in the sea
Unable to swim
I don’t want to drown
I want to grow a yin
I wish I was
Back and all these
Voices weren’t in my head
Cherry Tree
I am here in the forest
About to be planted
One day I know I’ll be King of the forest
The rain is falling, drip drip onto my leaves
The sun’s rays shine in my eyes
Giving me life
I can feel the energy
I am now growing
I am higher than most
This makes me feel happy
Soon I will reach the sky
All grown and prepared
Here I am as bright as
Red and well fed
Here I am in this tumbling and
Rambling machine being
Carried away to another place
Carrot
Here I am deep underground
I start as a little seed
Roots spring out of me like long wiggly arms
After some water I emerge from the ground
A little spec of orange
And the dreaded moment came
When I was yanked from the ground
I lost some of my roots, now I have headache.
I like it when I was in the ground
Talking to my friends
But now my journey has begun
Here I am deep in the forest
Getting put in a clear bag
And shipped away, far from home.
I liked it when I was underground
Talking to my friends
There I am cleaned and proud in my Sunday day
I would be transported to the supermarket
Here I am about to be chosen to take home
Here I am about to be chosen to take and put on a plate
Already been sliced and diced
Now I’m not whole
I’m now on a plate ready to be ate
And to be swallowed by a child
Now my journey has ended
And I’ve had my fun by miles
My journey doesn’t go on
Oranges
The soft and cushioned soil,
Just like a new white pillow.
Here I grow as time flows,
Dreaming and dreaming, I fly to the bright blue sky.
As calm as I can be,
I move on
The rain falling,
The warm sun,
Ouch my stem,
Ripped and thrown into a bath of fruit,
As calm as I can be,
I move on
I am a lonely thing,
Lost from my family.
In the basket I lay,
With darkness near me.
This is where I am.
As calm as I can be,
This is where I am.
Here I am as a relaxing orange at a house.
I’m not okay anymore I am leaving into the unknown
I am getting sliced
World peace out,
And my friends and I are leaving this world
You were so good to my heart, goodbye.
Calm as I can be,
I move on
Here I am…
Here I am in the warehouse
Loud machinery surrounds me
Yet to be made
Here I am waiting
For parts to come together
Frames and lenses all together
Here I am traveling to my shop
Watching the scans someone’s trying me on
Could this be the one?
Here I am
I’m happy now
I have an owner – I like it
Strawberries by Immy, Nouran, Bath & Dima at Hampton Hill Junior School
Plant growing, water absorbing
Strawberries rising, sunlight shinning
Strawberries growing, plants winding
Water dropping, new growing
Life was good
I miss the old days
Hope to grow again
Being picked, being washed
Being eaten, being crushed
Life’s no good
I miss the old days
Can’t grow again
Squirrel
Squirrel’s bones buried in the ground,
Right outside the fox’s lair.
Dreaming about being free,
And not in the dirty soil.
He didn’t like it this way,
He cradled acorns close to his heart,
And sprinted away.
I am laying in the slobbery mouth of a fox,
The stench is unbearable all I can smell is rotten flesh.
The fox bit down as hard as he could.
My brains squirted out of my head like melted cheese
Squelching out of a jacket potato.
He didn’t like it this way,
He cradled acorns close to his heart,
And sprinted away.
Running from the fox’s jaws, snapping at my tail,
Fleeing for my life, past the deer and rabbits staring as I fled,
Before I was snapped up.
He didn’t like it this way,
He cradled acorns close to his heart,
And sprinted away.
Dreaming about the time when he was in the forest
Eating an acorn and sleeping in his small house,
Imagining lots of acorns.
He tried his hardest to try and stay there.
In the Rainforest
In the beginning
I was a baby clinging onto my mum
It was nice to be out in the rainforest sun
Those were the good days
I was swinging through the trees
Whilst the warm breeze brushed through my hair
I’m a grown up now
I can do what I want and I don’t care
Those were the good days
Here they come
Lodgers were chopping down trees
They were here to stay
Lodgers were chopping down trees
They were not here to play
I wish I could go back to the good old days
I remember falling to death out of a tree
Thinking this should not be
I wish I could go back to the good old days
Mash Potatoes by Harley, Jasper, Andi & Hendrix at Hampton Hill Junior School
I am waiting to be swallowed,
As I sat in his warm, damp mouth.
Broken into bits, I was dreaming about going back.
I thought back to when I was lying in a big lump,
Next to the peas and sweetcorn.
I could hear a man getting ready to dig in,
I felt the fork going through my body in ease.
I didn’t like this so I went back.
I was cut and then mashed by the hands of a strong, burly man.
It was uncomfortable, yet the human couldn’t empathise.
Before this, he skinned me with his nails.
I wish he could feel my pain.
I wish I could go back.
As I started in the ground all swished as a pulp
I see the hand pulling me out of the ground
I know that I was free.
I was washed, I liked it, I felt free again.
I liked it here
I want to stay here
Let me stay here.
The Fear of the Pineapple by Amalia, Iris, Eleanor & Huey at Hampton Hill Junior School
After the supermarket I was scared.
The plastic rapper removed by a Queen.
A King puts a fork in my head,
I have never seen the inside of a stomach.
Finally after weeks of waiting,
I am lifted out of the prison,
I am stripped of my armour,
Fear ripples through me as I am cut into
Miniscule pieces and violently placed into a wrapper
Fear enveloped me,
I wasn’t happy, so I dreamed back to another place
And another time
I was squashed into a stinky, mouldy crate
And felt a sudden jerk as this vehicle transported me to a far off, unknown land.
As the fear flows through my body I wonder what horror is to meet me
Death or worse?
I wasn’t happy, so I dreamed back to another place
And another time
At first my colour used to beam in the sunlight
I was happy by myself and
My flowers were really bright until
I got tore off violently
I was happy there and I wish I could stay
Fruit by Javier, Nisa & co at Hampton Hill Junior School
I remember when I was small I had no spikes
When I grew up I had spikes
Then I got picked off a bush/tree
Then I got cut with my juice pouring out
Then I got cut again, again, again and again
I hurt a lot then I got grabbed by a weirdo
They put me on pizza.
When I was on a tree
I had yellow skin
I smelt fresh air
I could see the tall tree
I got taken off the tree
I got put in a bowl
A hand grabbed me
It peeled my skin and bit my head
I wish I was on the tree
I wish everything was calm
I want to go back
I want to go back where things were calm.
Back to when I was a normal strawberry
I didn’t know how it felt to be dipped in chocolate
Before I was picked by humans.
Back when I was a normal raspberry on a bush growing happily
Suddenly I got picked by a human
And ended up in a pie
I did not like that at all.
Gum by Grace, Lina, Ella, Tamson & Fanna at Hampton Hill Junior School
My fresh, new scent lost,
I was lying in the sticky remains of a banana peel.
The bin felt hot and stuffy,
This is not the place for me.
I do not like it here.
I turn back
Back to when I was under a table
And all dried and shrivelled up
Losing my stick
With many other victims of trick
I do not like it here.
I turn back
Back to when I was feeling free and alive, a bubble,
All I needed was to be here.
But suddenly, I popped in fear,
The moment was gone.
I do not like it here.
I turn back
Back to when my first bite was taken,
The sweet pain rushing through me
Flavour surrounded me, succulent and juicy
But the pain became too intense, too much for me.
I do not like it here.
I turn back
Back to when I was shiny and new,
I stared up at the white paper wrapping of my prison,
I could hear muffled voices above me
And suddenly I was pulled upwards into new hands.
This was the way I liked it.
Yes, it was good.
Picture Frame by Ada, Sofia, Caterina & Kai at Hampton Hill Junior School
I was once a seed in a farm
I am now getting chomped up by a fat man
I feel sweaty and wet with saliva
I smell eggs and pickles mixed together
Back when I was polished
All shiny and sparkly
I glistened in the light
Back in the factory
The intense pressure crushing my
Grainy surface moulding me
Into a rectangle.
I don’t like it here
I dreamed back
As I have been polished
I am put into a wooden frame
And I felt like I am in the wall of fame
Back in the oven’s flames
I was just sand and it burnt until I was
See-through and slowly
Merge into tiny pieces of glass
I dreamed back.
Back on the sandy shore
The waves lapping on the beach
I like it here
I want to try and stay here.
Find out more about Cultural Reforesting and SupermarketForest.