We Are Gnom Com - The Literacy Gnomes!

Welcome! We are The Literacy Gnomes (Affectionately known as Gnom Com.)

We love helping children to enjoy gaining literacy skills. We also like writing poetry about our love of Nature. In our poems we try to share the ways that we celebrate and bless the wonderful beings on our planet ~ the things that live, and grow, and form.

Sometimes we write about the celebrations that people take part in too, because we are always interested in learning more about humans.

We hope that you enjoy our poems. Those in this booklet were written in 2019, 2020 and at the beginning of 2021.

We shall add to them soon.

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Bontie

Frances

Pintie

Jocelyn

Faidrai

Baxter

Dainie

Large

Fwimlish

Nyman

Yomyoy

Lilac

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What are blessings?

Well, a blessing could be a very kind wish that we give to someone or to something that we care about. It can also be a wish that is full of hope for humans, animals and plants to be healthy and to enjoy their lives. A blessing may even be a thankful feeling. Or, it might be like asking for all the love in the whole Universe to come and surround someone who is not well, or someone who is very sad indeed.

We love to make our Middle-of-March Garden Blessings every year. We creep carefully among the plants and give them little gifts, such as strands of our hair, or the pips from apples. We do this to say, ''Thank you for being here" to the plants. We bless the stones and the trees and we wish all living things the very best for the coming of Spring. On the next page you can see a poem that Yomyoy wrote after the Middle-of-March Garden Blessings that we made this time.

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Our Middle of March Garden Blessings

By Yomyoy

We placed the hairs and apple seeds Among the blooms, among the reeds.

And then we made a blessing sweet For all the soil beneath our feet.

We blessed the soil to be alive With creatures that shall each survive Until their little lives are done, Each and every precious one.

While we ate our special meal We said what it was like to feel That we belong to this green space Where every being has its place.

We bless you all, and hope the day Will not be very far away When every life that plays its part Shall rest inside the human heart.

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Our Beach and Ocean Blessings at the end of April On this evening we bless the pebbles, the sand, the rocks and the creatures. And of course, we bless the sea. This year, only one of us was allowed to take the long walk to the coast. The rest of us stayed at home and joined in by lighting candles and singing special songs. Faidrai was the one to go. He felt lonely at first, because he is used to us all going together. However, soon he felt wonderful, because a lovely thing happened. He wrote a poem about it. But! As you will notice, something that isn't a person, or a gnome, or an animal, also wrote the poem.

An Evening By The Ocean

By Faidrai

With cosy blanket covering me, I stood and watched the evening sea.

The waves were swift, like horses’ hair And as they came I heard a prayer.

The ocean spoke in gentle tone: “ I love to roll and love to roam, I love to nourish fish and weed, And dance the weather’s every need.

When winds are strong I seem undone, When winds are kind I flow as one.

So I am wild like thunder’s boom, Or gentle as a rosebud’s bloom.

To this dear Earth and all who live, I will never cease to give, For many eons still to be…

As long as you shall care for me. ”

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Festivals Two of our gnomes, Bontie and Pintie, are interested in the different kinds of religious festivals that humans like to celebrate.

Bontie and Pintie have also been working with Yomyoy to become more confident in writing poetry, and they have written a poem about Hanukkah, a festival that will begin on December 10th Of course, Bontie and Pintie don't know what it was like to live in another time when something important happened, but they have tried to imagine it.

A Hanukkah Poem

by Bontie and Pintie Eight pretty lights, Eight special nights.

We celebrate the little flame That lit our holy place again.

Oh lovely Temple, men did spoil!

But quickly someone sought for oil So we could spark the wicks and show Our hopes for peace will always grow.

And though we felt like broken things And thought that we had lost our wings, With every gleam like Heaven’s sun We sensed that we were with The One. Much wick and oil has come and passed, But still we honour, holding fast, For even as the embers fade We know the love that God has made.

Eight pretty lights, Eight special nights.

We celebrate the little flame That lit our holy place again.

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Christmas Time We wish everyone a very peaceful time over the Christmas holiday.

Recently, we spent time with many animals in the forest and with some animals who have been rescued. We all helped to write a Christmas poem. Yomyoy has shown us that we don't always need to use punctuation in a poem...

The Animals Spoke At Christmas Time

By The Literacy Gnomes

Among the animals A little baby was born He was called Yeshua When Yeshua grew up He taught people that they shouldn’t be greedy And he said they should look after each other The ones in charge Didn’t want a poor person to be liked But others loved Yeshua very much After all this time People still speak about Yeshua And they celebrate the day that he was born Animals have dreams about Yeshua Because they know that cattle and sheep saw him long before The three kings came to look at him They know that as a young man Yeshua would hold animals gently Against his brown skin and black hair When animals imagine Yeshua being here again They remember what it was like to live with kindness And they honour the day that he came to be on Earth Always but especially at Christmas We hope you will know or remember as we do What it is like to be held in endless kindness

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We at Gnom Com wish everyone a safe and healthy New Year. We hope very much that it will bring many peaceful days to you all. Dainie has written a short poem about being kind in the New Year.

Kindness

By Dainie

On a day with lonely hours I watched a little bird.

She hopped among the snowy flowers And not a sound was heard.

This quiet bird seemed lonely too, And cast her eyes about.

What did she hope to see or do?

I wanted to find out.

Some moments passed, and then my heart Began to understand That she was seeking friendly part With others on the land.

All things that live seek kindliness From fellows on their way, And so I gave my warmest “Bless!”

To every bird that day.

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We hope your young person liked our poems.

Perhaps they will write a poem too?

If so, we would enjoy reading it.

If your young person might benefit from help with tricky literacy tasks, you can contact us at this email address: carrie@alephway.co.uk Or, you can visit: www.alephway.co.uk If you are on a low income, we have a scheme where no payment is needed.

Additionally, we are always here to offer gentle support to children and young people who are worried about learning, or about other difficulties at school.

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