Photo credit: Colin Clarke ARPS
.
Roger McGough
Roger McGough was born in Liverpool and received the Freedom of the City in 2001. President of the Poetry Society, he presents the popular Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, and has published more than a hundred books for both adults and children. His most recent book, 80, which contains 80 of his wonderful poems to celebrate his 80th birthday, is illustrated by the author himself. It is available here. In 2005 he received a CBE from the Queen for his services to literature. His website is here.
I love You Tell Me, illustrated by Korky Paul and written with Michael Rosen. People my age must feel, like me, that they have known him all their lives – he is certainly one of Britain’s best loved poets.
.
Here is one of his brilliant poems:
.
The Colour Collector
A stranger called this morning
Dressed all in black and grey
Put every colour into a bag
And carried them away
The goldenness of cornflakes,
The ivory of milk
The silverness of soup spoons,
The see-througness of silk
The greenness of tennis courts
When play has just begun
The orangeness of oranges
Glowing in the sun
The blueness of a dolphin
Nosing through the sea
The redness of the breast,
The yellowy blur of a bee
The creaminess of polar bears
Sliding on the floes
The little piggy pinkness
Of tiny tickly toes
The sky that smiled a rainbow
Now wears a leaden frown
Who’s sobbing in the circus tent?
Wizzo the monochrome clown
A stranger called this morning
He didn’t leave his name
We live now in the shadows
Life will never be the same
.
© Roger McGough
You can hear more about children’s poets and poetry, if you follow The Children’s Poetry Summit, @kidspoetsummit on Twitter
Poetry Roundabout 
I really like Roger McGough but hadn’t heard that poem before, thanks for sharing. My favourite is Let Me Die a Youngman’s Death.
LikeLike
Yes, I like that one, too! My favourite is the one about the diver turning into a sewage pipe. Actually, I don’t think he has written a poem I don’t like!
LikeLike