The Gift
Listen to Helen reading her poem ...
If I could travel round the world in eighty years or more,
I'd seek out special memories and bring them to your door,
A trek across a mountain range with peaks of crisp, white snow,
A paddle through the tropics where the twisted mangroves grow,
A flight above the desert in a grand hot air balloon,
A swim in placid rivers, lit up by the harvest moon,
A chase across a cloudless sky, to catch the northern lights,
A foray to a lake to see flamingos in full flight,
A ride through steep-cut canyons on a horse that's proud and strong,
A dive to precious coral reefs, where bright fish dart along,
A taxi through each city, full of hustle, smells and din,
A meal with each community that welcomes strangers in,
If I could travel round the world in eighty years, it's true,
I'd pack up all those memories and bring the world to you,
I'd say, “Let's stick the kettle on, we'll have a cup of tea,”
And then we'd both go travelling, by land and air and sea,
Yes, we would both go travelling -
On clouds of memories.
I'd seek out special memories and bring them to your door,
A trek across a mountain range with peaks of crisp, white snow,
A paddle through the tropics where the twisted mangroves grow,
A flight above the desert in a grand hot air balloon,
A swim in placid rivers, lit up by the harvest moon,
A chase across a cloudless sky, to catch the northern lights,
A foray to a lake to see flamingos in full flight,
A ride through steep-cut canyons on a horse that's proud and strong,
A dive to precious coral reefs, where bright fish dart along,
A taxi through each city, full of hustle, smells and din,
A meal with each community that welcomes strangers in,
If I could travel round the world in eighty years, it's true,
I'd pack up all those memories and bring the world to you,
I'd say, “Let's stick the kettle on, we'll have a cup of tea,”
And then we'd both go travelling, by land and air and sea,
Yes, we would both go travelling -
On clouds of memories.
This poem is copyright (©) Helen Dineen 2024
About the Writer
Helen Dineen
Helen is an educational writer, originally from Edinburgh and now based in Southampton. Her first short poetry book 'The Incredible Whale and other poems' was published by Collins Big Cat in 2021. She has also had poems published by The Caterpillar and Bloomsbury. Helen previously worked in a primary school, and some of her best memories are of practising poems with the children, for them to perform in assembly.
