Wolverhampton Art Gallery portraits day
Poems by Mandy Ross
On Our Way to Wolverhampton
Quick, quick walk to the bus stop.
Long, long wait for the bus.
Up, up stairs to the top deck,
All the way to Wolverhampton.
Spot a Spotted Cow, Sandbank, Penguin Café, Angel,
Unicorn, Royal Tiger, gurdwara, hospital,
Bloxwich, Wednesfield, New Cross, Bentley Green,
On our way to Wolverhampton.
To the Art Gallery, full of art and wonders!
Art on the staircase, on the walls, in the rooms,
A giant’s head of silver hangers,
Strange sights in Wolverhampton!
Seeing art, making art, pencil, charcoal,
Looking, drawing, measuring, sketching,
Looking, shaping, shading, rubbing out,
Telling new stories in Wolverhampton.
Then it’s quick, quick walk to the bus station.
Short, short wait for the bus.
Up, up stairs to the top deck,
On our way home from Wolverhampton,
Spotting Bentley Green, New Cross, Wednesfield, Bloxwich,
Hospital, gurdwara, Royal Tiger, unicorn,
Angel, Penguin Café, Sandbank, Spotted Cow,
And home again to Pelsall.
Drawing
With children’s suggestions and contributions at lunchtime.
Wet paper drying,
Waiting to be drawn on,
Is it wishing for a drawing
Of the tree it came from?
Lined paper
Waiting to be written on.
Fingers waiting to hold a pencil
To draw a drawing,
Tell a story,
That doesn’t yet exist,
That the paper’s waiting for.
Dry paper waiting.
Blank paper waiting.
Shapes forming in my brain,
As yet undrawn.
Back straight in my chair,
Arm straight, no chink at the elbow,
Eyes, brain and pencil
Ready to draw…
Circle for a face,
Triangle in the centre for a nose,
Ellipses for eyes,
Look, draw, look, sketch, keep looking, drawing,
And look!
A person emerging out of the paper,
Ready to tell a story.