

eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The New Study Guides. At school his favourite subject was soccer, and he dreamed of football glory while he worked atĤ4 quotes from Steven Herrick: ‘and I’m thinking as our bodies meet that I’ll remember this forever, By the River 493 ratings Open PreviewĬomplete summary of Steven Herrick’s The Simple Gift. But it best describes what many of these poems are about – me trying to be with my two sons as they made their way through childhood.Steven Herrick was born in Brisbane, the youngest of seven children. That’s an awfully clumsy word for a poet to use. They take us into the emotion and joy and humour and the simple thereness of the moment. Of course, the best poems speak more than the truth. As if I hadn’t kept my end of the bargain. However, I always felt that they were a little. Occasionally, I’d want to leave the poem as it was and I’d explain how it was saying something different from their reality. Then we’d discuss the poem, or the incident that lead me to write about it and I’d try again the next day. Often giggles, but sometimes they’d frown and say, ‘But Dad, that’s not how it happened.’ When the boys arrived home from school that afternoon, I’d read the freshly-minted poem. From these stories, I’d create a poem the next day. Jack would be much more animated, often adding theatrical flourishes of his own. The boys would tell me about what happened at school. We’d have afternoon tea of biscuits, cake and giggles before venturing into the backyard for the obligatory game of soccer. Jack and Joe were so generous in allowing a house-bound poet to leave his desk and journey with them through the classroom and schoolyard. Because I was their dad, they also knew I’d turn their stories into poems. When they were children, both boys would come home every afternoon from primary school and eagerly tell me about the events of their day. As I write this, Jack is living in London and Joe is starting university. Many of the poems in this selection were inspired by the childhoods of my two sons, Jack and Joe. These poems are personal favourites from my three collections for children: Poetry to the Rescue My Life, my love, my lasagne and Love poems and leg spinners. contentsĬhapter Two: There once was a limerick called StevenĬhapter Six: Seeing the world introduction Steven lives in the Blue Mountains with his partner Cathie, a belly dance teacher.

For the past twenty-five years he’s been a full-time writer and regularly performs his work in schools throughout the world. At school his favourite subject was soccer, and he dreamed of football glory while he worked at various jobs.


Steven Herrick was born in Brisbane, the youngest of seven children.
