Your Stories

Paula Walker grew up in Bradford but she now lives in Upton near Pontefract with her daughter Emilie and her son James.

Paula reading her poem for Emilie...

When most of us decorate a room - even a child's bedroom - we are usually happy if we think whatever wall covering we've chosen works but that wasn't the case for Paula when nine-year-old Emilie was changing bedrooms. Paula explains: "Whichever room I've decorated for them, I've made it something personal...I was drawing a picture to put on the wall in my daughter's bedroom and I just wanted something really special to go with it so she could use her imagination. The words just came as I was drawing the picture."

The result was a poem, Emilie's Room:

EMILIE'S ROOM

"The three Ms: Emilie, magic and moreish!"

Three Ms! I hear you say, "That doesn't make sense".

Doesn't it? Ah! Here's the thing, until you've been in Emilie's room, how will you know, what the three Ms stand for ?

You see, Emilie's room is kinda different in a peculiar kinda way;

For her room is for dreams,
So, all's not what it seems,
Once you open her door.

Her room will astound you,
You won't leave as we found you,
For your eyes won't believe what they saw.

So, watch where you tread,
Quick! Jump on her bed,
Below, an opening in the floor.

Shout! Where are we going,
For there's know way of knowing
Which story you have in store.

So, please hold on tight,
As, Em's bed takes to flight.
My goodness, like a bird, you soar.

Where will you land?
What have you planned?
Will it be sky, sea or shore?

Remember, use the key,
Set yourself free,
Leave behind what you knew before,

For I could tell you a story
In all its glory,
But that would just make me a bore.

So get down off of the shelf,
Go see for yourself,
Get out there, go, explore!

Fly high, see the sights,
The thrills, the delights,
The fun, in abundance galore!

You can dance, you can sing,
You can do, anything!,
You can even pretend you're a claw, ra!!

You see, the magic is there,
For Emilie to share,
With whomever knocks on her door.

Knock! Knock!

Now, upon your return, through the fire of no burn,
One thing, to remember, I implore!
Your imagination is the key,
To whatever, you, see,
And it's crying out!

MORE, MORE, MORE

Get it? :-)

"Get it", explains Paula, is what Emilie always says when she is telling a joke.

Half-way through reading the poem she stops and says: "I just want you to use your imagination as though you are in the room."

Paula says she has always "scribbled" and has always drawn but she had something very definite in mind when she wrote this poem. After all, she says: "Your bedroom's your haven and it's your place of dreams." She says Emilie asks, "What do I dream of tonight?" and she tells her to "use her imagination."

When a friend told Paula she liked the poem she decided "to take the bull by the horns" and ring the BBC West Yorkshire website. But now she hopes the poem is just a beginning. She sees it as the first part of a book which will have blank pages for its owner to fill, just as she has always left her children with part of their own rooms to decorate or write on just as they want. She says: "I want them to fill it with a story they've got to tell, something they want to do, something they love and just embrace their imaginations, embrace who they are..."