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Education » Teaching resources › Poet/Makar/Bard › Exploring poetry, discovering poets

S1 students from Knox Academy and St Thomas of Aquins discovered that they were poets - even if they didn't know it - when they spent a morning exploring ways into writing poetry with Matthew Fitt.

The poems by Knox Academy pupils play games with our senses by describing colours without using sight and songs without using sound; while the St Thomas of Aquins' poets find a refreshingly unusual, but very personal way to describe members of their families.

Songs in four senses

My song looks like a poodle in a dog show
My song smells like baby lotion
My song tastes like souffle
My song feels like candy floss

Matthew Dickie ('Cheeky Song' by the Cheeky Girls)

My song looks like a dark room full of people
My song smells like petrol
My song tastes like hot tea
My song feels like thick rope

Rosaleen Young ('Lose Yourself' by Eminem)

My song looks like a sunflower
My song smells like sweet honey
My song tastes like bitter lemon juice
My song feels cold but safe

Leane Brodie ('Beautiful' by Christina Aguilera)

My song looks like a mirror leaning against a wall
My song smells like new make-up, just opened
My song tastes like an ice-cube
My song feels like a broken heart.

Amy Noon

My song looks like a lighthouse
My song smells like sour sherbert
My song tastes like hot, spicy chilli
My song feels like sharp needles

Sarah Reid

My song looks like gold bling bling jewellery
My song smells like cheap perfume and thick smoke
My song tastes like stale alcohol
My song feels like a steaming hot tub

Stephi Ross

Colours in four senses

My colour tastes like grapes
My colour sounds like rustling leaves
My colour feels like sharp bristles
My colour smells like grass

Paul Cavanagh (green)

My colour tastes of lime
My colour sounds like grass blowing in the wind
My colour feels like a squashy sofa filed with feathers
My colour smells like freshly cut grass

Rebecca Hurst (green)

My dad

He is hot burning fire
He is brown and slick paintbrush
He is sugary tea in the morning

Rachael Quinn

My mum

She is copper and black plaited hair
She is a clear green iMac
She is a black handbag

Zoe Davies

My sister

She is blue hats in all seasons
She is a fluffy bumble bee
She is tap shoes always beating

Charlotte Martin

My father

He is light Lazio blue
He is a busy restaurant
He is pasta each day

Pado Tamburrini

My mother

She is dark Italian coffee
She is a hairbrush wherever there's a mirror
She is Nutella whenever

Shaun Nicol

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