It’s Michael Rosen!

Joseph Coelho on his poem marking Michael Rosen winning the 2023 PEN Pinter Prize

Being asked to pen a poem to celebrate Michael Rosen winning the PEN Pinter Prize was a complete honour. I have long been a fan of his, and recall fondly reading and hearing his poems when I was a kid. I have been fortunate to share a stage with Michael on a few occasions, and it’s always a joy to see the rock-and-roll poet welcome he receives from the audience – from young and old(er) alike. I wanted to try and capture this wave of excitement, to allow the reader to experience the audience whisperings, the hope and excitement, and the wonder of seeing Michael perform live.  

Michael’s writing centres on poetry, and so it felt apt to incorporate the essence of poetry into his corporeal form through the very same medium. His eyebrows become haikus, his mouth the ever-laughing limerick, his legs bounding ballads. Poetry is eternal; through its creation, the poet becomes immortal.

The poem had its first public reading at the PEN Pinter Prize ceremony, and it was here for the first time that I met my co-performers, students from Argyle Primary School. They put me to shame. They knew their lines by heart (my ancient brain needed the security of pages). They flowed in and out of my reading, becoming the voices of the excited children – life imitating art. Two children on my left saying, ‘It’s him’ and three on my right, ‘He’s here’ – their performance was flawless, and at the end we all stood, rabbits in headlights, grinning from ear to ear. The children clearly didn’t want to leave the stage.  

I often invite teachers in CPD (Continual Professional Development) sessions focussed on poetry to write and read a poem in groups. Often, the request is met with silence, or a look of are you serious?,or a shy, embarrassed giggle. We forget how difficult it is to get up on stage and share words. It is especially difficult to do so when you have spent the whole day learning in school, more so when you are performing in front of a bunch of adults!

Oh yeah, and the poet who wrote the poem is on stage with you… oh oh yeah, and the poet the poem is about is in the front row watching! I think most adults, if asked to do this, would have run for the metaphorical hills, not these kids, these kids… most kid, are incredibly brave. Just like Michael’s brave and fearless writing, these kids can inspire us all to get out of our own way, to take a leap, feet first on the meters of our legs, to find the beating poem of our hearts.

~

Rosen

Voices rise up
out of the auditorium.
the children are hungry for poems.

“Is he here yet?”
“Have you seen him?”
“Do you think he’s coming?”

The drooling children know
there will be poems today,
but who will be reading?

“I hope it’s him, I saw him on Youtube.”
“My Dad’s met him.”
“He visited my mum’s school.”

The children show-off their stories,
of the first poem they heard:

The one about the cake,
The one about the dog,
The one that was too hot.

“I like how he performs.”
“I like how his poems are like life.”
“I like how his poems mean something.”

The auditorium lights start to fade…

“Are you sure he’s coming?”

“I heard he’s coming”

“He must be coming.”

The adults that were standing,
necks craning,
failing to hide their child-like excitement
begin to sit,
feeling the weight
of adult bones once again.

His arrival is signalled by a wave
a tingling,
a collective outpouring of held breath.
a rush of:

“It’s him”,
“he’s here”,
“look over there!”

Smiles and eyes alight
on adult and child alike,
as he rhymes up onto the stage.

The haikus of his eyebrows wiggle,
and the audience are bound-up in poetry
travelling through time
on the meter of his memories.

The limerick of his mouth grins
and the audience are sharing a meal at his table
on the rhythm of his recollections.

The ballads of his legs
bound him across the stage
and giggles and laughter
wash through the theatre,
as they gasp together.

The anthologies of his eyes
hold them all
through the laughter and the thoughts,
through the ponderous delights,
through the gasps and the tears.

 

“It’s him” whisper the children.
“It’s him” breathe the teachers.
“It’s him” mouth the parents.
“He’s here” say all – remembering the poems
that will thrum within them forever…

“It’s Michael Rosen.”

“It’s Michael Rosen.”

“It’s Michael Rosen.”

---

Joseph Coelho is a multi-award-winning children’s author and playwright. His YA ‘Story told in poems’ The Girl Who Became A Tree’ was shortlisted for The 2021 Carnegie Medal and received a special mention from the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2021. He has written plays for Little Angel Theatre, Tutti Frutti Productions, Polka Theatre and The Unicorn Theatre amongst others. He is two-time winner of the Indie Book Awards (2019 & 2022) with Picture Books ‘If All The World Were… and ‘My Beautiful Voice’ respectively ‘(illu. Allison Colpoys). His Poetry Collection Werewolf Club Rules (Illu. John O’leary) won the 2015 CLIPPA Poetry Award. His plays for adults have received a special commendation from the Verity Bargate Award and been longlisted for the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition. He is Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2022 – 2024

Photo credit: Hayley Madden/Poetry Society