Long Story ShortEnglish resourcesPlay today's

English resources/Love and Relationships/Mother, any distance

Mother, any distance

A mother holds a tape measure while her son measures his new home. The tape runs out.

This poem in five words

Tapemeasurerunsoutsonleaves

Hide these. Ask the class for their five. Then show them. Then play today's sentence.

The quotes

3 big quotes in this poem.

Anchor. Kite.

Armitage · Mother, any distance · parents and children · growing up

Two words. She holds him down, he wants to fly. A tape measure between them.

the last one-hundredth of an inch

Armitage · Mother, any distance · parents and children · growing up

They measure a room together. The tape runs out. He is about to leave.

to fall or fly

Armitage · Mother, any distance · parents and children · growing up

The last words. He reaches for the sky and does not know which it will be.

← Before thisFollower: Son follows father, then swapsNext →Before You Were Mine: Mother's life before the baby
← All 15 poemsNow play today's Long Story ShortOne real news sentence. Keep five of its words. Two minutes. Free. No login.Play now
The words of the book come from the AQA Poems Past and Present anthology, Love and Relationships cluster (poems quoted briefly for study; older poems are public domain). Every quote was checked against it. Paintings and drawings are public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each one. Notes by Akash Wadhwani. Copy it. Print it. Share it. No sign-up.
Spotted a mistake? akash@sheets.works