Take the Ogmore riverbank

Add a sunny dawn,

Spread the riverbank with trees

Fold in a rocky pool

Sieve the river with a rod,

Whisk in a pinch of luck,

Wait a calm and patient hour,

Decorate with a brown trout,

and enjoy

By Ryan Amesbury, aged 10, who receives Chasing the Sun: a journey around the world in verse, donated by Simon and Schuster. Submitted by Lynne Lewis of Croesty Primary School, Bridgend, mid Glamorgan who receives the BPTeachers’ Poetry Resource File, published by the Poetry Society. For Poetry Society events, ring 071 240 4810.

A formula is rarely carried off as well as this. Ryan goes fishing in the River Ogmore, and in the eight lines tells us why the sport gives so much pleasure. I feel I am sharing the “calm and patient hour”. Despite the fact that the device is a recipe, there is no certain kill, no landing of the brown trout. The fish simply “decorates” the river. I like the particular naming of river and fish, the use of words like “fold”, and “sieve”, which so well describe the cast and fall of a line into water through a sunny dawn.