Mayflower 400 Southampton

List Poems by young people

To support KRYT, Audacious have worked with ArtfulScribe to commission Susmita Bhattacharya to create a digital resource package, teaching students how to write poetry about Mayflower 400 exploring themes of:

Self-identity.
Identity of Southampton.

Relationships with the sea. 
Journeys & migrations.
To celebrate people of the world.

Southampton as a gateway to the world. 

List poem

The Mayflower Pilgrims

filled to the ceiling with

cod fish, cider, canvas sheets

spears, swords, spoons of wood

beer, biscuits, beef and butter

skillets, chisels, bolsters

four pairs of shoes and kettles everywhere

on their journey to the unknown.

I have packed my bags with everything

my whole entire bookshelf,

no books left behind.

Jeans, hoodies, t-shirts,

my phone and pots of ramen,

my dog and cats of course

for my trip to Tokyo.

– Eleanor, aged 11

List poem

Mayflower Pilgrims set sail

With their bags packed full.

Beer, vinegar, cod and cider

Swords, bents and 20 pounds of powder

Garters, suit of cloth, sewing needles and

Falling bands,

Kettles, platters, dishes and frying pans

They brought broad hoes, broad axes and Irish stockings

On their journey.

I am ready to go too

Sketching pad, pencil and rubber

A laptop, a novel and some supper.

A notebook, poetry book and pen,

A clock to say when is when.

My phone, my headphones and a pile of clothes

I’m ready for my trip, off I go!

– Amelia, aged 13

Journeying

On their journey to the New World

The place now called America

The pilgrims had no idea

Of what life awaited them.

They packed up their lives and set sail on a one-way journey

Can you imagine that?

They brought everything they would need,

Food, water, and clothes, yes,

But also hammers and chisels, wood and nails,

To build their new homes

In a world far away from everything they had ever known.

On that journey so many years ago,

The brave people aboard the Mayflower

Didn’t just go on holiday, 

They went for life, hoping that what lay ahead

Was better than what they had left behind.

Now I will fill my own bags for Germany, my favourite place,

Remembering their journey.

First, the essentials,

I’ll overpack on clothes as always,

At least 5 or 6 pairs of everything

A toothbrush for my braces

And a German Guidebook to help remember all the phrases.

Then of course I will bring some books,

Their covers pristine apart from the creases along the spine

Proof they have been enjoyed 

A brand-new holiday diary, pages clean and fresh

To record all my own adventures

A pencil case chock full of stationery,

Money for some souvenirs 

And my phone, to fill with pictures and memories

All in my bag to Germany.

Though I cannot go there at the moment.

And now, even though we cannot journey as the pilgrims did,

Or as we used to before Covid. 

We are still on a journey.

As bumpy and treacherous as the Mayflower,

But we will get through it

Just as the founding fathers of America did

When even though their journey went wrong

They came out better than before

Let’s be better than before.

– Libby, aged 13

 

 

List poem

In the barrels, in the trunks

Hidden spoons, bacon and bunks

For they are making a journey

With all their jerky

To a new world.

In my backpacks, in my bags

Hidden clothes, divers kit and pasta

For I am making a journey

With all my memories

To a new world.

– Conrad, aged 13

List poem

Much from their homeland the Pilgrims did take

Ancient books and axes, nails and locks

Young boys and girls brought biscuits for the trip

For the adults, light armour, words and belts

Little did they know their need for the map

Over the Atlantic with slippers, shoes and soles

When the weather did turn, one’s cap, band and shirts

Even iron pots, kettles, frying pans and spoons

Right before their journey onto the new world.

– Sam 

List poem

The Mayflower sailed

In 1620

Packed with all the things they’d need:

Biscuit, beer and mustard seed,

Salted pork with rice and peas,

Rug and blankets, canvas sheets

To keep the wind out when they sleep.

For cooking, iron pots and spit,

2 axes, saws and 2 more saws

And locks to fit upon their doors.

I too have packed my bags

With all the things that I might need:

A notebook and a fountain pen

Plus cartridges of ink.

My school shoes and some snazzy socks

My collection of gemstone rocks.

A scarf and a warm hat,

That makes me look like Sherlock Holmes

Some books from my grandmother

To read on the train to Middlesborough.

– Katie, aged 13

List Poem

A pilgrim’s new life needs

Items to survive, they carried beef, bacon, butter, oats

Peas, cheese and rice. Shirts, shoes, slippers, sewing needles

Rug and blankets. Swords, iron pots

Frying pan, dishes, spoons of wood, 

Towels, soap, hammers shovels nails

Locks for doors.

Food, bedding, items, tools,

For a great life.

The journey starts today

The adventure begins tomorrow!

– Emily 

List poem

The Pilgrims of America

Took with them

Bacon, salt pork, butter

Suit of cloth, waistcoat, slippers, French shoes

Canvas sheets and blankets

Frying pan, pestle and mortar, kettle

On their journey across the sea into uncharted waters.

To go with me on my journey

Sunglasses, travel book

My camera and extra film

Pictures of my family and pets

Sandals for walking on the beach

Memories of home, a novel

Pen and paper to write down my

Journey across the water and into

Greece.

– Lucy

List poem

In the Maylfower boat

The Pilgrims had:

Salt pork, peas

Rice and good cheese.

Slippers and shirts,

Suits of canvas and cloth,

Rugs, a blanket, 20 pounds of gun powder

Iron pots and frying pans

Clanging together

Getting louder.

The soundtrack to a journey

To a new life.

Now I’m on my way,

With me I have

Ballet shoes, manuscript paper

Pasta that I’ll eat later,

A notebook and a novel,

A pen, pencil and polaroid.

My laptop is here, and so is my teddy

I’m on my way to New York 

And I’m ready.

– Ella 

List poem

The Mayflower Pilgrims

On the way to a new world

In their sacks they carry

Biscuit, beef, butter and beer

Kettles, frying pans, two skillets

And dishes

Shirts, slippers, waistcoats

And blankets,

Off they sail now.

Unlike the pilgrims, 

I travel to Italy.

In my suitcase I carry

Leggings, T-shirts and jumpers

Suncream for the days out

Books, notebooks, pens

Colouring books and felt tips

Not forgetting my IPad of course!

– Isabella

List poem

Beer, beef

Salt, cider

Shirts, shoes

20 pounds of powder

60 pounds of shot

Skillets, spoons

Handsaw, hatchets

All these and more.

For the Pilgrims of the Mayflower

Their journey took them far

Fathers, sons, husbands, wives

Themselves and their belongings

To a land unknown.

I travel not so far

To a land I know well.

But I still pack my bags

For the journey I make

Phone, phone charger,

Pencils and pens

Sandwiches, snacks

Myself and my belongings

To a land I know well.

– Louise, aged 16

List poem

The people will bring just what they need

Not more, not less but just in between

They bring all their chisels, hatchets and nails

Their skillet, kettle, soap and their towels

They bring their canvas, their rigs, good straw

Their biscuits and cider and their very sweet oil

For what could we possibly need

Maybe some luck and a little less greed

And maybe some spares for me.

– Hiba, aged 14

List poem

I have

Biscuits and butter

Beef and bacon

Bolsters and blankets

Cheese and chisels

Frying pans and French soles

An iron pot and Irish stockings

Pork and platters

Napkins and nails

Shirts and 4 pairs of shoes

Slippers and sewing needles

Plain shoes, little shoes

Soap, shovels and spade

A sword and a spit.

I have all I need.

I’m on my way.

– Tabitha

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