Animate the Inanimate

We all had to choose an inanimate object to write about, or as if we were that object speaking. The challenge was to find the personality of that object. Some are obvious and others you have to guess what they are!



REACHING, STRETCHING

I like to stretch
And reach for the sky,
Never quite getting there
But oh how I try.

I'm made of wood
Or metal too,
Anything that's strong enough
To hold you.

There are many new versions
Multiple uses for all,
But always the main aim
Is to be long and tall.

These humans, they think
They are the bee's knees,
But they'll never reach the top
Without at least one of me!

- Christine



A CUP

Four cups on a table
When all else fails, have a
cup of tea, said Mum.
This is grief.

- Robert



MY WORD

Words of history
Words of prophets
Words of the holy and unholy
Though inanimate
People say I have a living spirit
Uttering words from above
Sin crucified on cross
Stories of people
Saints and sinners
Prostitutes and prophets
Whores and history
I tell also of future
Not the price of gold
Not the winning race horse
But how God wins in the end
And how we all reap paradise

- Phillip Porteous



DAY OF THE IRON

One day the iron got tired
of steaming and pressing
and grew arms and legs
it jumped off the ironing board
and ran down the street trailing its cord
until all its water
had sloshed down the drain
its iron stomach
expanded in the freezing cold
and it grew hungry
for electrical ions whirling
and so it returned
to where it was from
meekly it served out the rest of its days 
putting creases where it was told
but now and then in protest
it overheated
and melted nylon petticoats

- Helen