Poet Laureate – Term 5

11 Jun 2024

This Terms winner of the Poet Laureate is Josie Mitchell who wrote a Poem Called Pompei.

“An effective and powerful poem about the tragic eruption of Pompeii. The strictly structured rhythm and rhyme of Josie’s stanzas starkly contrast the chaos and dismay of the scenes described. Well done Josie!” Miss Priestner, Teacher of English, EAL & Literacy Lead.

The twenty-fourth of August,

Seventy-nine AD,

The day started calmly,

Anyone would agree 

A rumble in the distance,

The sky full of smoke,

Getting darker throughout the day,

Worrying the city’s folk 

Suddenly Mt. Vesuvius opened,

Soon followed by magma and woe,

Hot lava began to flow out,

Letting off an ominous, orange glow 

Soon Pompeii was covered,

In chaos, trouble and cries,

It didn’t take long,

For the entire population’s demise 

Preserved for nearly two-thousand years,

Under ash and decay,

Pompeii is all the way out in Italy,

A historical sight we can visit today