London, My City

They see cars and rain, the dirt and the smog,

The bad weather, the rainy days, the grey,

The way the whole city smells like a bog.

They absolutely hate it, and they say,

“I wish we had more sun, I want a tan,”

But when it’s hot it’s “oppressive, okay?”

“Ugh it’s too humid, go get me a fan.”

Complain about noise and people each day.

But I see a world that’s different. How?

I don’t see the bad parts of our great town.

I see diversity even right now.

I don’t get why they always wear a frown.

Because to me London is like a pink rose.

It broke my heart to see my city close.

Lucy Pollock is 15 years old and lives in outer London. One of seven siblings, she loves reading and first started reading 17th, 18th and 19th century novels in Year 7, after a spectacular English teacher dared her to read Jane Eyre. Her favourite Jane Austen novel is Emma. She also enjoys musical theatre and has particularly missed being in shows this year.

Lucy wrote an early version of her poem in the summer of 2019, after commuting into Central London every day to do work experience. She rewrote it this year to reflect the current times, after seeing the streets which had been so vibrant, and were suddenly empty due to COVID restrictions.