It opened its mouth

And started on my big toe,

Chewing

Yet not leaving a scar.

Biting away

But not giving any pain.

Progressing slowly

Past my legs,

Past my hips.

My rib cage slid slowly downwards

My arms disappeared,

Being swallowed down, down . . . .

And as my head sank into the ground

I thought . . . .

If only!

By Anoushka Pour, aged 13, who receives Penguin Modern Poets 1. Submitted by Janine Phillips of Whitchurch High School, Cardiff, who receives the Poetry Society teachers’ newsletter, a quarterly bulletin which includes features on innovative approaches to poetry in the classroom. For Poetry Society events, ring 0171 240 4810.

We can all identify with this. Anoushka has had a good idea for making a poem: choosing an everyday expression - I wanted the ground to swallow me up - and making it actually happen in literal detail. You might like to try something similar with a different expression; “head over heels in love”, say, or “I can read you like a book”.

Kit Wright