Inside Voices

Poems from the Inside Voices Project

The poetry was inspired by a range of museum objects, including natural history specimens and artefacts from Ancient Egypt. There are a total of ten poems, two by each of the five students. The first one, The Jackal Head Jar was the winner of the poetry prize.

The Jackal head Jar

Jackal head
You don't look
much like a Jackal head
To me.

Jackal head
your ears
remind me of a bat
flying through the African jungle

Jackal head
your face
looks like a baby turtle
crawling up a hazardous beach
to the safety of the Atlantic Ocean

Jackal head
your stripes
look like a vicious tiger
stalking a zebra
on the African plains

Jackal head
you were the guardian
of some poor bloke's stomach
As he made his way to the afterlife

Jackal head
what happened to the grisly contents
you once guarded?

Jackal head
Did you perhaps eat them in a feeding frenzy?
And why were you trusted
with such a precious task,
Jackal head

Jason Wilson

A Lost Society

I've been fascinated by Egypt since I was a kid
The way Pharaohs buried themselves with servants in a pyramid
They achieved so much in a primitive time
Like Shaduf, maths, astronomy, make-up, and wine

A little bit sick to our society at best
Burying people alive, practising incest
A strong minded people, clever and ambitious
Canopics pots filled with body organs - erm delicious!

Animals and religion were big in their life
They wrote with pictures and smoked a pipe
They lived so long ago, now we'll never see 'em
Just artefacts and knowledge from Reading Museum

Lee Morris

15 dog teeth

I sit here
fifteen teeth in my view
are they all from you
What's the story behind it all
you left your teeth but where are you
in the field behind the trees
Maybe rustling in the leaves
round the corner up a hill
Maybe looking for the next meal.

Tom Wooldridge

The Museum Case

Egypt
Sands
Pyramids
Sphinx
Pharaohs
Case closed

Shaun Daniels

The tiger skull proved to be a truly inspirational object, being the starting point for two students

The Tiger and the crushing jaw

Its teeth
Big teeth
Curved teeth
Carved teeth
as long as your thumb
back teeth like a range of mountains
worn down by the years
They used to bite and choke
with their killer teeth

Dave Bates

The chase

She sits in the grass night and day
Roaming the plains looking for prey
An excellent hunter, majestic at best
Guarding the pride, yearning for flesh

The cubs are now old the year is late
Time to move on find a new mate
A powerful animal, king of the jungle
She sees a gazelle, her belly did rumble

She's off - she's gone - the attacks begun
Deep in the grass, under blazing sun
She runs fast with speed gaining fast
One wrong move she'll be eating last

She's now caught up her prey is beneath
Those powerful jaws and big strong teeth
She must press on the day is late
To feed the cubs satisfy her mate

So you see this animal is totally cool
The African plains her pride does rule
Tiger, I would love to meet ya!
In my eyes you're a magnificent creature!

Lee Morris

Green Dude

Hey Green Dude? What's up with your green skin?
You look like a crocodile
In a very bad mood.

What sights have you seen?
In your long long life
Have you ever had children?
Or even a wife?

Green Dude why is your tash so long?
And what's written on your belly?
Are they perhaps a song
Appearing on the telly?

Jason Wilson

The Robbery

Ptah I can't believe that I look
at you now three thousand years on
You've come from a far.

In your tomb silent for life
Buried with your servants, jewellery and
wife

I have taken you away
Placed you in the museum
at your best

Tom Wooldridge

The Scarab

They saw you rolling round the dung
And figured out you rose the sun
Your armour shimmers in the light
Magic Preserver through the night

Shaun Daniels

Ibis

Ibis with exceptionally thick legs
And a big beak
One of your toes is missing
Like a little ostrich
Running

Dave Bates