The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Because their war was not so long ago…

Listen to Emma reading her poem ...
Because their war was not so long ago ...

Great-granddad remembers:-
air raid shelters
and the damp

He remembers:-
keeping chickens and ducks
family growing their own veg

He remembers:-
the rubbery smell
of gas masks
Five Boys chocolate bars

He remembers:-
anti-aircraft guns
louder than thunder
and the Germans
drawn like wolves
in the newspaper cartoons

He remembers:-
the ARP warden’s shout
‘Put that light out!’

Because their war was not so long ago …

Great gran remembers:-
air raid sirens
and hiding in
the coal hole

She remembers:-
candles and power cuts,
a clothes horse tent
draped with blankets
to keep warm

She remembers:-
soldiers marching to church
and singing
‘Roll Out the Barrel’
in the pub

She remembers:-
the drone of planes
and evacuees names

She remembers:-
when the other children’s dads
came home

About the Writer


Emma Purshouse

Emma Purshouse is a writer and performance poet. She writes for both children and adults. Her children's poetry collection 'I Once Knew a Poem Who Wore a Hat' is published by Fair Acre Press and won the poetry section of the Rubery Book Award in 2016.