The Edge of our Village

In this activity we’ll be using a poem as a starting point to write something about the village where you live. The poem is by the American poet, Eve Merriam. It’s very short – just seven lines – and is an interesting and imaginative list of things you might find at the ‘edge of the world’.

What will you find at the edge of the world?
A footprint,
a feather,
desert sand swirled?
A tree of ice,
a rain of stars,
or a junkyard of cars?

Eve Merriam

I wonder what you’d find at the edge of your village? Look for smallest details (like the footprint and feather) and think of the village at particular times of year or the day (ice in the winter or stars at night).

Make a list of things you’d find in your village – bus stop, bottle bank, coke can, Twix wrapper, farm gate, post box, signpost, a woman changing a tyre – and see if you can add a word of description to each: busy bus stop, flattened coke can, creaky farm gate etc.

Pick out your favourite things you come up with and see if you can make your own poem. Here’s what I came up with – it doesn’t have to rhyme but as Eve’s poem did, I thought I’d try and do something similar to mine.

What will you find at the edge of the village?
A busy bus stop
a Twix wrapper
a flattened coke can.
A summer breeze
a creeky farm gate
a wheel and a woman by her van.