National Poetry Day is on 1st October 2020 and this year’s theme is ‘See It Like A Poet’.
So I had a go at making a short animated film of one of my poems, ‘When I was Cross-Eyed’.
The poem’s from my book Saturdays at the Imaginarium, and it’s inspired by the idea that “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” (The quote’s by a writer called Anaïs Nin).
Have you ever noticed, for example, how you sometimes react to things differently depending on what kind of mood you’re in? A barking dog might be cute when you’re in a good mood, but annoying when you’re in a bad mood, even though it’s the exact same dog making the exact same sound.
And have you noticed the way that you and your friend can be in the exact same situation at the exact same time, but sometimes they love it and you hate it? Like when it’s time for the Friday football game, you race to the pitch and can’t wait to get your kit on. But your friend drags his heels, dawdles, tries to think up excuses. Again, same football game, but two different people with different feelings about playing sports.
Anyway, that’s the general idea behind the poem and the film – see what you think!
Shauna Darling Robertson 