Transitions
They sat there in assembly
All lined up neat in rows
Pressed in new blazers; some quite big
That hung down near their toes
With shirt sleeves rather massively
Extending past their arms
And trousers rolled up in great folds
Heart’s pacing; feint alarms
The new kids all awaiting for
The head to come and speak
The first day at their brand new school
Yet weather rather bleak
For in the hall an eeriness
A grey mist hung in air
No word; no sound; no squeak nor squeal
Just something strange right there
Then he appeared; through curtain’s veil
To take up centre stage
In robes of academia
A man of some great age
And started to address them
In tongues they did not hear
Peculiar! Yet in all truth
Most were just bored to tears
Some even dared to drift off in
A stupor; some did snore
And Jo Bloggs twice fell off his chair
And landed on the floor
But even he did not expect;
Pre-empt what then he heard
A flash; a bang; a mighty crash
And then a throng of words
Like voices in a football crowd
All flying overhead
A mass of noise; commotion and
A sense of creepy dread
From where they came; he did not know
But like mammalian
The headmaster revealed himself
A Martian Alien
“Right Now!” he said
“You listen up” he spelt in words so clear
“You lads are at my school from now”
“The start of the school year”
And you will do as I will bid
In line with Martian Law
Enlist; behave and follow me
Or feel my wrath and more”
He bellowed on and on and on
Jo Bloggs, now wide awake
Felt damp to say the very least
And in his boots did quake
What place was this? Where had he come?
Why could he not escape
Yet rooted to the spot he just
Stood still to gawp and gape!
He couldn’t move; he couldn’t think
Entrenched by freaked out fear
So much for his Mum’s pet talk that
Said “you’ll be ok, my dear”
“Oh, no!” he sighed “What should I do?”
“Dash out or stay right put?”
But still be found he was stuck still
And couldn’t budge his foot!
He wriggled and he squirmed around
He wracked this brain and mind
Contorting body, arms and limbs
To twist and skew – unwind
But then the spotlight found him
It pinned him to the post
Illuminating everything
Those things he dreaded most
It showed the inner thoughts he had
The things he’d hidden from
The worries that he’d just not faced
Left pounding like a drum
The things he was concerned about
Anxieties and fears
But now in alien spotlight
He had other ideas
For how he wished he’d talked them out
Prepared well in advance
Thought all about the things he’d done
To give himself a chance
“Help! Help!” He screamed! “Help!” said a voice
A voice from deep within
And slowly all the noise did cease
Where silence calmed; not din!
Not din nor word, for hush had come
The light and glare was gone
And Jo Bloggs realised that this had been
A nightmare all along
And from that day, that little chap
Took heed of thoughts in head
Lest they might come and spook him out
When he was in his bed!
Postscript: I wrote this thinking about how we deal with change and how anxieties can creep in when we don’t face them. Fronting up to those fears, facing our mountains seems to me to be the best way to help them crumble. This poem is written in the context of a young boy facing the transition to big school. It’s a time when children have to face up to big change in their life – for some maybe the first big change they’ve had to do on their own. Helping them talk about their fears, face up to their worries and prepare them for that transition helps them make the move a whole lot easier. Isn’t that true for all of us? You know what they say it’s all the preparation. So I hope we will all have the courage to face our aliens before they face us. Every best wish.
Ginz&Tonic 