Today we welcome back Leanne Moden who invites you take inspiration from your favourite book.
Write a poem that retells or explores the plot of your favourite book. My poem is called “An Unexpected Journey” and is based on one of my favourite books – The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. In the book, Bilbo Baggins is pressganged into an adventure filled with mortal peril, when all he really wanted was a second breakfast. This poem is about that feeling of being supremely underqualified for a job, and dong it anyway…
An Unexpected Journey
After The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
A wizard calls in for a cup of tea
and leaves a secret sigil on your door.
Then thirteen dwarves show up, and they agree
that your horizons need expanding more.
A mission, to recapture stolen gold!
The dwarves are grateful for their recruitee
– a master thief, adventurous and bold!
Turns out that Gandalf lied on your CV.
There will be goblins, dragons and some elves;
you’ll be imprisoned, hungry, cold and wet.
You curse under your breath and to yourself –
you haven’t seen a bloody contract yet!
You might return, but there’s no guarantee;
you sigh and add ‘hero’ to your CV.
Leanne Moden
You might have noticed this is a sonnet, a classic form to have a go at if you feel like an extra challenge, but, as always, go wherever your mind and your pen leads you.
Leanne Moden is a poet, performer and educator, based in Nottingham. She’s performed at events across the UK and Europe, including recent sets at WOMAD Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sofar Sounds, and Bestival on the Isle of Wight, as well as shows in Estonia and Spain. Leanne performed at the TEDx WOMEN event at UCL in 2016, and was a semi-finalist at the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Slam in 2019. She is currently working on her first full-length theatre show, Skip, Skip, Skip, which is about identity, music and belonging, and her second pamphlet of poetry, ‘Get Over Yourself’ was published by Burning Eye Books in 2020.
Please share your responses to today’s prompt either in the comments or via email. The best submissions will be featured in future podcasts.
If you’ve enjoyed this podcast please consider showing your support with a donation via ko-fi.com
Books by many of the poets featured on the podcast are available from the Poetry Non-Stop bookshop here. All books purchased via this link help to raise money to keep this podcast going.
Poetry Non-Stop 