Up-and-coming British poet Nic Aubury has dedicated his first pamphlet of poems to children’s Autism charity, Peach.
Nic has a young son with Autism and fell into writing poetry by mistake. He describes himself as part grumpy father, and part armchair philosopher, who spent the first eighteen years of his life trying to get girls to laugh at his jokes. The pamphlet called Small Talk, was published by Nasty Little press in 2011 and commended by poet Sophie Hanna: “Utterly delightful. These poems are perfectly formed and hilariously true.”
Peach is a UK based charity who work with children throughout the UK providing behavioural programmes in homes and schools. Their ethos is development of the child as a whole taking into account of intellect, academic, social and emotional behaviors, so that children with Autism can take advantage of opportunities throughout their communities and need less support as they mature. A Peach mum recently said, “We feel we were given an enormous amount of support and care. You took away the fear”.
They worked closely with the Aubury family to develop their son’s skills, and Nic felt that this was a great way of giving something back.
This reporter was lucky enough to listen to Nic read a poem about his son recently. As he explains:
“It’s a villanelle, is by its nature quite a repetitive verse form, and I’ve used a bit of internal rhyme as well, also to reinforce that effect of repetitive behaviour. That’s the idea, anyway!”
Jake the Peg
Jake’s a peg ; he doesn’t fit:
The world is round, and Jake is square.
He doesn’t care a little bit
For toys or games. He likes to sit
And watch his programmes in his chair.
Yes, Jake’s a peg. He doesn’t fit.
He likes to let dry sand, or grit,
Run through his hands, and people stare;
He doesn’t care a little bit.
He likes to hold his string and flit
About and sing, quite unaware
That he’s a peg that doesn’t fit.
And other children might get hit
Or sidled past as if not there.
He doesn’t care a little bit
When people point, or laugh, or spit;
He doesn’t think that life’s not fair.
Yes, Jake’s a peg. He doesn’t fit;
He doesn’t care a little bit.
(©Nic Aubury, 2011. All rights reserved. Used with permission)