in modern studies we built a shanty town

we paraded outside

to the playground

waving plastic bags

and cardboard scraps

and the teacher split us

into families

mine ran to the railings

with our piece of blue

tarpaulin and pierced

one end through the spikes

we used broken tree branches

as tent poles

and carpeted the floor

with cut grass

and decorated

the entrance with daisies

we stood house-proud

admiring our creation

then realised

only one person

could fit inside

so we took turns

stooping low and lying

on the dirt floor


until the roof collapsed

and the tarpaulin lay

like an ocean and the daisies

cascaded downwards


and we were no longer sheltered