The prompt today was to “write a poem about a handmade or homemade gift that you have received.” Straightaway, that got me thinking about an eleven year old girl I taught several years ago who made me her own version of a friendship bracelet. I don’t know where she is now or what she’s doing, but I hope she’s still channelling her creativity.

The Gift

She was a challenging pupil.

Casey hung around the classroom at break

and lunchtimes, pestering the teachers and

making herself a general nuisance.

She loved colouring and was my friend for

life when I gave her an unwanted puzzle book

that had belonged to my own children. 

Little by little, she began to open up, telling me

about her uncle who lived in America and was a

Country and Western singer. I didn’t know

whether or not to believe her. There was something quite

endearing after a while about the way she latched

onto anyone who was kind to her, and I began to

look out for her tousled blonde hair and thick, unflattering

glasses with something akin to anticipation.

“This is for you, Miss,” she said one lunchtime,

handing me a small package wrapped in hand

drawn paper and fastened with a rubber band.

I opened it gingerly, not sure what to expect, and

realised straight away how hard she must have worked,

painstakingly threading hundreds of coloured rubber bands,

fashioning them into a beautiful bracelet.

“Look,” she said, pointing out my initials. The vivid pinks

and yellows stood out against an intricate pattern of oranges,

greens and blues.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” she said, “for listening to me, Miss.”

The smile she gave me then was the greatest gift of all.