TODAY is National Poetry Day.

The annual event aims to see poetry shared, enjoyed and celebrated across the UK.

The theme of the 2018 National Poetry Day is Change.

Across the UK, events are being held in schools, libraries, bookshops and hospitals, on buses, trains and boats – all celebrating poetry’s power to bring people together.

Below is a poem submitted by a County Gazette reader - you can click here to send yours via our Postbag page, or by posting in the comments section, where you can also let us know which poets you will be enjoying on this special day... 

Grow, soul of child (a poem)

That smell is a smell so dear to me,
A hint of childhood past.
One with even bad memory,
Would recognise at last.

If that past has passed your memory,
Then future be on your present.
But if the future is unsure,
You are sure to be unpleasant.

Abused and fatherless
Or pampered and spoilt.
The clues shrouded in
Your very own mind.

Do not be the one who abandoned,
Don't be the one who achieves.
Be the one who has the will
To conquer your fears.

For only then you will grow,
Soul of child.

ADAM RYLANDER
Taunton