Thursday, February 26, 2009

A GIFT

I received an extraordinary gift today, handmade by Laura and her beautiful daughter Ellie.

Dear Ellie,
Your castle is FABULOUS, thank you so much. I have copied it onto my computer desktop so that I will see it every time I open my computer.


Dear Laura,
I thought and thought about a way to tell you how much this castle means to me...hmmm...how shall I thank Laura?.......

So here is a little poem for you and Ellie,
with love.



ELLIE'S POEM



A princess needs a castle,
As does a prince,
A king,
And queen.

But royal families’
Bricks and mortar,
Though so lovely,
Are unseen.

“Tell me,”
Said the knight in armour,
As he looked straight through the walls,
“If a better spot for duelling
Can be found in all the world?”

“Tell me,”
Said the knight in armour,
As he stood deep in the moat,
“Is there a better spot for viewing
The many hilltops where I’ve fought?”

And all this time,
So quiet,
Peeping,
Little Ellie watched him,
Giggling.

“Silly knight to come this far,
And not even notice where you are.”
She waved her arms and whistled loud,
But knight just stood there silent,
Proud.

She sang “Yoohoo”
And “Hello down there,”
But the knight heard nothing
As he stood and stared.

She would have whistled
Or thrown a paper plane,
Or tapped very loudly
On the windowpane,

But mama came in
And said “You gave me a scare,”
And “That’s only the wind,”
And “There’s no-one down there.”

Mama said “Time for tea,
And a storybook,”
And out of the window
She never did look.

Later,
As Mama cooked dinner
She said to Ellie “Go play,”
And she gave her lots of yellow,
And a little pink,
Clay.

Ellie knew what to make,
And she built it fast.
A bright yellow
pink flagged castle
With a deep moat of glass.

Mama smiled and said,
“That’s a beautiful sight,”
And Ellie whispered,
“I made it for that silly old knight.”

“I made it so bright
So that he’d look up and see
That the castle is real
And in it
Lives
Me.”

11 comments:

Mary said...

You are amazing - what a fantastic poem for a little girl..

Anonymous said...

Ellie will be so happy!

Julia said...

Fun poem! And so neat that Ellie has already built the illustration. Attach photo to poem and she has the makings of her own book.

trash said...

I wish my name was Ellie.

Soft Rock Mama said...

Lucky Ellie, to have a poem just for her.

Lucky knight, who was gifted such a lovely home.

You are quite talented!


I have read Rae/journey mama for a year or so - she amazes me.
Listening to Tj's stories reminds me of my childhood, minus the ocean. I have respect for their animal husbandry skills and land conservation.
Have a great day Eleanor.

That One said...

Lovely. A bright spot of sunshine on a cold, dreary day.

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

How beautiful. You are talented.
Paola

Sömsmånen said...

You deserve only the best, so glad to see that's what you got!

Anonymous said...

Dearest Eleanor
It is YOU who have given us the extraodinary gift.Thank you so much for the beautiful poem.
Ellie & I have read and reread it about 20 times now and we still can't stop smiling. I am in awe of your talent and so touched by your kindness.
xxxooo

PS after I read your poem to Ellie, she said I thought the castle we made was for a friend?
Yes, it was
But, this Eleanor is a storyteller
That is the really special part, she is a friend AND a storyteller
Wow!
Exactly... : )

Pretty Things said...

Very cheerful, and a great homage!

Ellie said...

Just beautiful.

I wish I was that Ellie