Poets Make History - Ferrymead Heritage Park
Thanks to the Canterbury Literacy Association for sponsoring 24 young writers from around the region to spend a day at Ferrymead Heritage Park with our tutors Gail Ingram and Heather McQuillan. It was a great day of exploring the past and putting the ideas into words.
Here are a selection of poems from the day in which the young writers responded to the General Store and recorded their observations ( precise and sensory detail) and wonderings about then and now.
The General Store at Ferrymead Heritage Park
The buttons on the cash register clunk.
I stare at jars of vibrant lollies (that would never last).
Absent-mindedly, I scrape my hand across
the Master-crafted piano, a hideous tune.
I wonder at the tins of peacock jam, its blues
and pinks positively shining.
The hand-sewn clothes hang like thieves
above the domes, hat pins and lace
I run my fingers along
the pots, jars and barrels,
the sound resonates through the room.
George Grundy, Year 8, Russley School
The Ferrymead Historic Village General Store
My fingers brush against
A carefully packaged jar of raspberry jam
protected by a blue and white gingham cloth
the brand logo you would find on supermarket products
nowhere to be seen.
My ears are filled with the sounds
of the cash register
that was once filled
with a plethora of vintage coins.
My eyes stumble upon
the tins of preserved food
mustard
fruit salad
all kinds of cuisine
sit on wooden shelves
as if they haven’t been touched for years.
My mind wanders
back to the question that has been stuck in my head
Where is the freezer?
I find my answer.
In the corner sits a tiny ice bath
isolated from the rest.
How did people live like this?
Matilda Gill- Clifford, Year 7, Broomfield School
The General Store – Old to Now
Ravens Tea, Goughs & Gold
Symingtons soup
Food galore
Pots and pans
Poison on the floor
This was what was inside
the General Store in the olden days.
I was thinking, and tinkering
wanting to know,
what this shop would be like
100 years ago.
I came out of the store with a smile on my face
thinking, I’d love to live in this very place
in the olden days.
Emily Rentoul, Year 6, Timaru Christian School
The General Store
Flour in brown bags,
plates, pottery and jugs.
A scale, a pot,
a bar of soap.
A bike with a basket,
dolls dressed in fancy clothes.
Jam with patterned lids,
shillings, pounds and pence.
A bowl of fruit, a bag of wheat,
a collection of pots.
Two black sewing machines,
a pile of paperwork arranged in a mess.
A shelf of medicine, a white hand-sewn dress.
No sweet-smelling perfumes,
no bread, ice-cream or meat.
No chocolate, no chips,
no sugar-coated lollies.
No bags of frozen water,
no checkout,
no trollies.
Bex Skinner, Year 8, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School
Wonderings in the Old General Store
My fingers touch the carvings on the coin
New Zealand one penny, 1943
with a tui
Milk chocolate scorched almonds
I wonder how many there are
in a box?
Colemans mustard
5 shillings per tin
A basket of wooden pegs
like little sleeping people
Wooden drawers slide open
with dill, curry powder, thyme,
nutmeg and all the spices
Upright iron grand
Ask What Thou Wilt
Brown October Ale
Remington typewriter
keys in random spots
like natural disasters
Parcels wrapped in brown paper
tied up with string
in a bicycle basket
I wonder what’s in
the parcels?
Mekhi Tauakume, Year 8, Russley School
Shopping then and now
When I went into the General Store, I saw
dusty pianos
shiny china dolls
rusty cans of Edmonds powder
fresh-laid eggs
and fruit.
I smelled fresh air.
What I liked most
was the name of the store.
In the shops today
there are sparkling floors
aisles metres long
fresh food for miles.
I smell air conditioner.
My basket’s so full of
my favourite foods.
We call it a supermarket.
Atiria Tutaki-Phillips, Year 5, Linwood North School
The Storekeeper
I walk through the door
to my right I see
a gravestone
for David Patrick Lockton
beloved husband and father.
You can get anything at this store
a wooden stroller
old lollies not packeted
no freezer or fridge,
just a chest of ice to keep it cool.
You can get anything at this store
Muriatic Acid awkwardly sits in the corner.
An old cash register going
cha ching
when a purchase is made.
Jars of jelly jam
ready to be eaten.
My footsteps climb the ladder
to get to a higher shelf
getting lollies for the children.
You can get anything at my store.
Ella McMillan, St James School
Horse outside the General Store
The horses trot down the gravel road,
come to a halt when they reach the General Store.
They lick their lips
and drink deep from the trough,
tied outside the General Store.
Molly Shield, Year 6 , Cheviot Area School
Olden Day Then and Now
Right now I'm sewing all my clothes,
Dresses skirts everything I know,
Patches of silk and cotton fabrics,
Tomorrow’s the same, a repetition.
In the future clothes will be brought from shops,
No more sewing stitching by the lot,
My clothes will be made just for me,
Fancy and perfect like the Kings and Queens.
Next, I go and do my shopping,
Tinned meat and lollies in a jar,
Weighing food for the right amount,
Boy's bike past being very bizarre.
In the future, there will be,
A supermarket just for food,
With rows of fresh fruit by the dozen,
And frozen treats are hidden far away.
But that's for the future
And not for today
So I'll finish my shopping
Then be on my way.
Caitlin Sim, Year 8, Marshland School
I walk along the street,
begin to think
about the old times.
Poof!
Where am I now?
The store beckons
I give in.
It has dolls
arranged in rows
and baskets on the floor.
Poof!
And I’m back
in the 2000s.
I walk to the store
and enter.
It has tall aisles
neatly arranged.
Not like the store in 1903.
It has machine-packed packets.
Not like the store in 1903.
It has high-tech cash boxes.
Not like the store in 1903
Where I belong and where
I should be.
Aimee Masters, Year 6, Clearview Primary
2018 shopping, 1918 shopping
We’re going to go shopping
I jump out of my damp bed
Whip up some pancakes
And make extras for mum and dad
I wash my face, comb my hair
And get into my Sunday Best
I rush upstairs
And jump on my brothers bed
My mum loudly calls out to me
“We’re going to the store”
I groan and unhappily
Drag myself out the door
I get changed slowly
Into my coolest clothes
I do my hair in a ponytail
Brush my teeth, then let’s go!
Mother and Father slowly awake
From their morning doze
They get the white Lipzinder out
Saddle her up, ready to go
Inside the store is amazingly huge
Bicycles and pianos
Placed in the hall
Long tall shelves and small labeled drawers
If you came closer
You could even smell it
Homemade jam
And flour too
Mum hops in the car
And turns the key
Reverses out of the garage
Forgetting the bags for grocery
Inside the store
Is always the same
Hundreds of aisles
And oh, the candy lane
Yuki Stansfield, Year 6, Waitakariri School
The Old Store
Wow! But really just how?
What was it like buying pure milk from a cow?
How did you get there? Did you run?
Did you walk, just to get there to buy a soft bun?
Molly Shield, Year 6 , Cheviot Area School
Some things to notice about the poems:
In many of these poems the young poets started with a list of the objects that drew their attention as they roved the store. By recording precise details and nouns they had some great language to draw on when it came time to compile their poems. They also recorded some of their questions or wonderings which helped to bring the poet into the poem. Fresh similes were welcome. Stale similes stayed in the past! Some poets chose to create a comparison poem - finding the differences between now and then.
© The School for Young Writers and the poets. 2018.