She creeps in at midnight
When nobody knows
Ever so lightly
On her tip toes
She knows she shouldn’t do it
She just can’t keep still
Something inside her finds it a thrill

From bed to bed she hops all night
Beneath the covers
Out of sight
The warmth of the bed
It can be of any kind
Bunk bed
Double  
She really doesn’t mind

You see Leggy is a girl
Who’s playful and sweet
She just finds it hard
To settle down to sleep

One night on the hop
She went a bed too far
Out the front door
Past the car
She stumbled into the neighbours
Who owned a great big cat
Huddled down beside him
On his big fat mat

“My word,” said the neighbour
“What have we here?”
When she woke to find Leggy
Asleep by his ear

With a hop skip and a jump
Leggy woke with a fright
“What did I get up to late last night?“
She ran to her mama
“I promise,” she said
“From this day on, I’ll sleep in my bed!”

We never saw him coming
Never heard a thing
He would float through the house
Like the post-it notes king
Pete was his name
Every colour was his game
Post-it
Stick it
He had no shame

The colours where coded
Red, green or blue
A mission
Request
Even some clues
Mirrors
Doors
The most obscure places
Arrows
Pictures
Little smiley faces

We knew that he dwelled there
Someplace in the house
Following us around
As quiet as a mouse
We set up a trap
To meet him one day
Left some notes of our own
Saying “come out and play?”

The days passed us by
The notes less and less
Until one morning
He posted his final request
“I’m Pete, nice to meet you”
“I’ll come out to play”
"Could do with a friend,
what do you say?”

Instructions on the note
Time read quarter past four
Meet me down by the stairway
Beside the red door
There he was standing
Tall, dark and thin
Floppy hair
Oversized jumper
Sporting a grin

From then on we loved him
Our post it note Pete
The shy
Timid boy
He was ever so sweet

It was a magical night,
The moon beamed from the sky
Vivi looked on patiently for unicorns that could fly
She waited and waited and waited some more
Standing by the window, peering around the door

The time was now, her bag was packed
Oats, some glitter and her camera stacked
She set out on her crusade, she knew just what to find
Moonicorns , MagiCorns and Mermicorns of some kind
The powers they possess from the moon, land and sea
A unicorn explorer one day she would be

Her inquisitive nature
Her belief so profound  
Deep in her quest
She will make all the sounds
A calling for each
A mutter or a neigh
Don't ever stop believing Vivi
We adore you this way

Four mugs of coffee in and it still doesn’t make sense
Who knew this homeschooling would be so ****** intense
“Let’s start with some writing”, She says, “That’s always fun”
“Have you seen my favourite pencil?” they ask
“The blunt stubby one?”

She needs to focus on the task at hand
“Try to be as descriptive as you can”
“Shall we throw in some adverbs, perhaps a simile?”
“Something like;”
“Having lost the will to live, she ran out the door quickly.....”

Next on the list, its time for Maths
A little worried about this one
She's never been good with stats
Times tables, addition and a bit of subtraction  
“Over here, look at me, what’s with all the distraction?”

Her Patience wearing thin,
“I'm hungry”
“What’s for lunch?”
As she replies sarcastically
“Pizza and *** Punch!”
“Can we play now?”
“I'm tired”
“Can I watch Tv?”
“On dear Lord, help!”, she prays
It’s only day three....

Let's hope in a few months she can stay awake past eight,
When school reopens,  
She'll be the first at the gate!











- [ ]

Each night the ritual takes place
From underneath the sheets
Somewhere in the middle
Is where the feet will meet
At first a little coy
Each waiting to make their move
A wriggle of a toe
Gets them in the groove
A twist of an ankle
A shimmy from left to right
A beautiful entanglement
Lasting for the night

We found ourselves didn’t we, you and I
When things got tough
And we asked ourselves why
When life crept up upon us
And hit us full force
We rode the wave
Followed the course

We found ourselves didn’t we, you and I  
We could’ve easily said goodbye
Got caught up in all the fuss
But stuck it out because that’s not us

We found ourselves didn’t we, you and I
The years we put in, we couldn’t but try  
All through our differences
How far we’ve come  
My partner
My lover
My chosen one

Twenty Twenty
What a year
It‘s been
A Pandemic
Lockdown
All in between
We took on the news
A lot was said
Digested it
Analysed it
The papers we read
It was like nothing
We’d ever lived through before
It’s intangible force
We just couldn’t ignore
It crept up upon us
Like a thief in the night
Days on repeat
No end in sight
From loved ones
To livelihoods
Completey wiped out
Broken-hearted
Desolate
Filled with so much doubt
Tier one
Two
Three and four
Some followed the rules
Others chose to ignore
We needed some answers
A glimmer of hope
Too much to comprehend
On this never ending *****
Then came good news
A vaccine was near
Would this solve our problems?
No more living in fear?
With 2021 looming
As we ring in the New Year
What have we learnt?
What’s important?
What’s dear?
Maybe Mother Nature
Wasn’t being heard
A deeper message for us all
That wasn’t being shared  
Finger on the button
Press rewind
Say hello to your neighbour
Practice being kind
Time to reflect
From this year to the next
How will you change you ways?
What will you do next?
Sometimes the hardest questions
Are the easiest to escape
But a conscious decision
Determines the action we take
A little gratitude perhaps?
Pay it forward?
Lend some help?
Practice daily affirmations ?
Look after your mental health?
I know one thing that’s true
For me I’m sure
I found my purpose
My reason
My cure!