Summer Reading Challenge

Get creative

As part of the challenge, why not create your own poem or rap and send to your local library? For inspiration, check out the below special poems written by Coventry’s Young Poet Laureate, Diamond Kayode-Osunlana.

Orchestra

Let that sound speak to your soul. 

The arpeggio holds its breath 

and the chord progression waits 

until you’ve turned the page to begin. 

As you read about another world, 

that mini orchestra within

is working overtime,

and every line 

is whispering its own story,

simultaneously, into your ear.

If you listen, you might hear.

Hear two halves become one whole

Hear the words on the page 

and that song on the stage.

Remember, that every instrument 

has its own role.

Feel the tension of the string

as you tiptoe on the brink 

of a new discovery.

Sail the high seas and find uncharted territories.

For in the space between touch and sight,

lies the treasure of a harmony.

And when you come to the end of your journey, say goodbye to new realms, 

close that heavy door,

the memory of a melody resounds, 

a quiet, fading cadence,

a never ending overture.

Can you hear that?

Something is starting

It’s been alive for a while now

But it’s only just stirring, waking up

I’m saying, we’ve been passed the torch

Don’t put up a fight

It’s our birth right

And it’s essential, no indispensable

That we fan the flame, keep it alight

Because sometimes,

A flame is all you can see 

In the dark of the night 

This light guide and reminds us

Of ages past, who we were

This light revels and tells us

Of future stories, of everything we will be

This light of creativity is no mystery

This age of originality is a democracy

Everyone has a voice 

So let your sound be loud and heard all around

Because it’s shaping history 

You can hold the world in your hands

If you give yourself the chance

I mean, you could dance with pirouettes and leaps

Like in ballet

You could sit at the piano playing keys

Like Tchaikovsky 

You could paint a portal to another place Like Monet

You could write about life,

Look it in the face

Like Dostoyevsky 

You could even sing like Beyoncé

With riffs and harmonies and melodies and-

Can you hear that?

Because it’s closer than you think.

Listen to the sound of the new age

As you read the words on your page.