Monday 18 April 2016

The Art of Innocents

Innocence and sense of awe
The child mind links with hand and soul
To draw and paint without restraint
The inner thoughts of mind
Unrestrained and unconcerned
The soul is bared in marks
Marks that look so innocent yet
Hide deep thoughts and things
Profound and simple things
That can not be said in words

The marks they make are made with thought
And feeling from the heart
The good the bad the deepest woe
Come flooding out as marks
Marks that make no sense to us
But hide a hidden code
No mark is made for markings sake
They mean so much to them
The artist in the child we see
Their way to say what’s there

What’s there is there and needs to out
To make a mark with pen or paint
Releases hidden words, words we see not say
Because they mean so much to them
They have a need for art
To bare the soul and shout, or
Quietly contemplate a way to be
To understated what pictures mean to those
Who feel the need to make a mark
To have a voice that everyone can see

This poem was inspired by my recent experience as a creative art facilitator with a group of year one children (5 – 6 year olds) at St Johns RC School, Poulton le Fylde. I am grateful to them for helping me to see what only a child can see, the power of art.

Alistair J Parker
18th April 2016