The sun boiling so hot and bright

The blood in the heart of battle.

A fox searching for the kill

A brick waiting to be built

Anger raging and roaring that curses me

A book on the horizon of my eyes

A storm striking down with eminent force.

JEREMY NEUMARK-JONES

I hadn’t intended to publish any more poems with this title, but Jeremy’s is a remarkable - and rather frightening -example of what can be done with this idea. It’s not just the strangeness and violence of his images that give the poem its impact, it’s the relentless linking “b” and “t” sounds. It reminded me of an Anglo-Saxon riddle, in fact. Can Jeremy have been reading Beowulf?

KATE CLANCHY

Jeremy Neumark-Jones, aged 7, receives Two’s Company by Jackie Kay (Puffin). Submitted by Toni Ashman of Hazelwood Junior School, London, who receives a set of Poetry Society posters with teacher’s notes. For Poetry Society events, ring 0171 240 2133.