I feel lucky to have a couple poems that via a few contract signatures are used in classes as far afield as Australia and Canada. It's an awesome thought but rarely do I hear from the teachers or students that use them. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by
Sara Prinsloo an artist and skateboarder working at
Oaklands College in Watford. She wanted to know if she could use my poem
'Two Inches to the Right' with her students. I was stoked to receive the below images of their work and a little info from Sara after the class...
"The students had great fun illustrating it using the printed poem itself. They had just 30minutes to make something compulsive and representational of Two inches to the right.
Some students represented the sentencing of idiot and used handcuffs to do this as well as prison bars and chains. A lot discussed the subject of consequences and the repercussions of your actions as well as the characters situation. The current issues of UK knife crime, gangs and youth violence came up when analysing the poem as a class. Described by them as a dark and deeply emotional as well as a poem which could be used to inspire others and conveys a very important message. A lot of our students thought that alcohol was most probably to blame for Idiots actions, as well as bad impulses and peer pressure from friends. A lot of the work made had links with the miss use of alcohol and the sadness and brutality of death. I think a lot of our students related to the poem and we thank you for writing such a raw and realistic piece of work. I hope it inspired my classes and makes them question the decisions they make in life." Sara Prinsloo
