What are Museums For?
Museums are places where memories
escape for safekeeping, the dust
of your grandmother’s childhood,
your grandfather’s thumbprints,
the hinges of time which creak
like opening a chest
or a portal to ancient worlds.
Museums hold lost footsteps
in their floorboards,
their cabinets spill messages
picture playgrounds of the past,
where history, her story, our stories
hide between artefacts,
waiting to shout.
escape for safekeeping, the dust
of your grandmother’s childhood,
your grandfather’s thumbprints,
the hinges of time which creak
like opening a chest
or a portal to ancient worlds.
Museums hold lost footsteps
in their floorboards,
their cabinets spill messages
picture playgrounds of the past,
where history, her story, our stories
hide between artefacts,
waiting to shout.
This poem is copyright (©) Emma Phillips 2026
About the Writer
Emma Phillips
Emma Phillips lives, writes and teaches by the M5 in Devon, which sometimes lures her off in search of adventure. Her poetry for children can be found in Tyger, Tyger, The School Magazine, Little Thoughts Press and Paperbound, as well as here on the Dirigible Balloon. She is addicted to crisps.
