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  • The Dark
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The Dark

Carol Ann Duffy

If you think of the dark
as a black park
and the moon as a bounced ball,
then there’s nothing to be frightened of
at all.

(Except for aliens…)


Carol Ann Duffy

From ‘Tales of the Expected’, New and Collected Poems for Children (Faber, 2009), by permission of the author

Tags:

darkness fear moon national poetry day 2015 short poems suitable for children

About this poem

This poem was reproduced on a postcard for National Poetry Day 2015. Eight poetry postcards are published each year by the Scottish Poetry Library to celebrate National Poetry Day and are distributed throughout Scotland to schools, libraries and other venues. The theme for 2015 was ‘light’.

Download the PDF poster version of this card

Download teaching ideas on this poem

You can find out more about National Poetry Day in our National Poetry Day page.

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Carol Ann Duffyb.1955

First female, first Scottish Poet Laureate in the role's 400 year history, Duffy's combination of tender and tough, humour and lyric, jaded and curious, idiosyncratic and conventional has won her a very wide audience of readers and listeners.
More about Carol Ann Duffy

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