The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Elegy for a Lunchbox

I’m accidentally jammed behind a warm radiator
Next to an old sock and a broken eraser.
Inside my innards, carbon dioxide is forming
My yoghurty contents have been fizzing all morning.
My crusts are all green and getting quite hairy
What’s happened to the apple is positively scary;
It’s wrinkled like an elephant and going quite mushy
whilst my cucumber sticks are liquid and slushy.
I thought for a moment, someone had come to retrieve me
But I’m really not sure my owner wants to receive me
My biscuits are soggy, the crisps salty dust
I’m past all help, but suppose that I must
pull myself together and try not to cry
this is the place where packed lunches come to die.

About the Writer


Kit Weston

Former primary teacher and school librarian, Kit is an enthusiastic reader and creative writer, who runs poetry workshops for children. Living in The Garden of England, she takes inspiration from everything – though the natural world and the children she is privileged to teach do feature. Her poetry has appeared here (The Dirigible Balloon), Parakeet Magazine and has been used in schools from Tonbridge to Bristol! One of her poems has recently been translated into Croatian on behalf of JAR a Juvenile Arthritis Research charity, very close to her heart! You can find her @Kit_weston1.