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Each month, TATE ETC. publishes new poetry by leading poets such as John Burnside, Moniza Alvi, Adam Thorpe, Alice Oswald and David Harsent who respond to works from the Tate Collection. Subscribe to the Poem of the Month RSS feed.
Poet and performer Francesca Beard made a visit to Tate Britain with her two small children on a hot day in August, and based on the various works and people they spotted she wrote Portrait of A Young Child In Blue at Tate Britain.
Portrait of A Young Child In Blue at Tate Britain
Not Sculture garden, Vulture garden!
That's a Horse and that's a Dog and that's a Dog And a Horse.
The Sky is purple, let's play catch -
Oh! shhh! Does that man want his Nap?
That baby can fly. That baby is Fat.
Where is the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
That Fairy is cuddling that man.
They are having a Kiss because they are Friends.
What is called that lady?
I think she is called Mummy but she is not my mummy.
Ahhh - over here. Here they are - one, two three, and there is Tinky Winky - all the Teletubbies!
That is SameChristopher but it is not my Grampa.
Here is a video but it's not a cartoon.
The lady is cross, but she's not cross with you.
She is cross with that man over there because he wouldn't Share.
These dollies are scared because they are all Broken.
We wouldn't like to go in that room because it's not very friendly.
I think it's a very naughty naughty room.
Ah! We found it! All by myself! The Our Trolley!
Would you like to draw with me?
Would you like to draw a Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Here is purple.
I will do the Sky.
Photo © Tate
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Francesca Beard was born in Malaysia and spent the 70's growing up in Penang, an idyllic island paradise. Since then, quite frankly, life has been down-hill all the way, but with occasional slow climbs... a bit like mowing a sloping lawn. After a spell in real jobs, she gave it all up to become a fictional character and now exists as a London-based poet, performing “spine-tingling” and “brilliant” spoken word to lucky audiences all over Britain and the World as well as her one-woman show, Chinese Whispers a blend of poetry, music, visuals and intellectual dim sum. You can find out more about Francesca at www.francescabeard.com.
Previous poems
October 2007 Will Eaves presents his poem Crater
September 2007 Francesca Beard presents her poem Portrait of A Young Child In Blue at Tate Britain
August 2007 Ilka Scobie presents her poem based on Hélio Oiticica’s Grand Nucleus
July 2007 Pelé Cox presents her poem based on Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss
June 2007 Jacob Polley presents his poem based on Nicholas Hilliard’s Queen Elizabeth I
May 2007 Penelope Shuttle presents her poem based on Barbara Hepworth’s Garden Sculpture (Model for Meridian)
April 2007: Lawrence Sail presents his poem based on Bridget Riley’s Metamorphosis
March 2007: Tishani Doshi presents her poem based on Alberto Giacometti’s Walking Woman
February 2007: Anne Rouse presents her poem based on Andreas Gursky's 99 Cent, 1999
January 2007: Moniza Alvi's poem on Samuel Palmer's Coming From Evening Church 1830
December 2006: David Harsent's
poem based on Jean Dubuffet’s Le Arbres de Fluides 1950,
and Susan Hiller’s After the Freud Museum 1991-96
November 2006: John Burnside's poem on John Nash's The Cornfield 1918
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