The Wednesday Poetry Corner: Bellamy The Butterfly

As this is The Wednesday Poetry Corner, and I am celebrating reading Bellamy The Butterfly at Wisley Gardens this weekend, I thought I would give you a snippet of the story ~ all in rhyme!

…And Pa said, “Bellamy is a magician.
Showing us change and transformation.”

And Rosie said, “That’s a very big word.
That word is a word that I’ve never heard.”

“It means from a-this,” said Pa, “to a-that;
When a thing changes shape from a round to a flat.
Or a thin to a fat, or a big to a small,
Or a wet to a dry, or a low to a tall.
And Bellamy’s clever at making the switch.”

And Rosie asked Pa, “Is he like a witch ~
Changing snails into horses and frogs into bats,
And dragons to princes and toads into cats?”

And Bellamy flew on his butterfly way.
“Don’t go,” said Rosie, “I’d like you to stay.”

And Bellamy said, as he fluttered away,
“There’ll be no frogs or princes today.
My magic is simple ~ with no cats for me ~
I begin as an egg on a leaf on a tree.”

  (c) Niamh Clune 2013

Bellamy The Butterfly is available in print or paperback HERE  Or find out more abut the whole range on our website www.dr-nanaplum-amazingbooksforchildren.com

About Dr Niamh

When I was a little girl (a very, very long time ago), I used to love learning new, really big words like ‘discombobulate’. As I grew, my love of words grew too, until I loved them so much, I could not stop writing them down. One day, as I was scribbling a particular word, a very peculiar thing happened. The word shouted at me, “Stop! Don’t put me there!” As you can imagine, I was shocked and nearly fell off my chair. When I recovered somewhat, I said to the word, “Could you stop shouting, please? I am not used to it.” Can you guess what happened next? No! I thought not. The word said, “I might be small, but I will misbehave if you do not use me properly. I will not tell the story you would like me to tell. I will say something entirely different!” I dropped my pen. I hoped that by dropping my pen, the word would stop talking. Alas! It did not. It carried on chitterchobbling, even after the ink had dried. I was in a pickle. I could not allow my words to run away with my story, now could I? I don’t know about you, but when this sort of thing happens, there is only one thing left to do if you prefer not to spend your time arguing. “Very well,” said I. “I will do as you ask if you will just be quiet and allow me to concentrate.” Since that day, I have been paying special attention to every word I invite into my stories. After all, a story should say exactly what it means to say and not be led astray. With love from Dr. Niamh, Ph.D in Learning Through The Imagination and Founder of Dr Niamh Children's Books. www.drniamhchildrensbooks.com

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