Poems With Lois Letchford - A New Leaf

19 Jun 2021 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:21

In this YouTube video, author Lois Letchford—known for her memoir Reversed—introduces herself and reads the poem "New Leaf" from John Foster's collection Excuses, Excuses. The poem is a first‑person declaration made on the first day of a new diary, where the speaker vows to be more organized, diligent, and mature. She references specific individuals (Christine Robinson, Graeme Holden, Mark Beatridge, Ian Cartwright) as models for neatness, cleverness, accuracy, and popularity, expressing a desire to avoid past ridicule. The performance ends with a typical YouTube call‑to‑action encouraging viewers to like, subscribe, and share.

Chapters

This— hello, I'm Lois Letchford, author of the book Reversed: A Memoir, and I'm reading from Excuses, Excuses by John Foster, and this one is called New Leaf. Today is the first day of my new book. I've written the date and underlined it in red felt tip with a ruler. I'm going to be different with this book. With this book, I'm going to be good. With this book, I'm always going to do the date like that, dead neat with a ruler, just like Christine Robinson. With this book, I'll be as clever as Graeme Holden and all— get all my sums right, be as neat as Mark Beatridge. I'll keep my pens and pencils in a pencil case and never have to borrow again. With this book, I'm going to work hard, not talk, Be different with this book. Not yell out, mess about, be silly with this book. With this book, I'll be grown up, sensible, and everyone will want me. I'll be picked out first, like Ian Cartwright. No one will ever laugh at me again. Everything will be different with this book. Thank you. Think about the sentiments in that poem. Hit like, hit subscribe, and share.