Join writer Hollie McNish and add your voice to our poetry chain

This May we're celebrating creativity and wellbeing by asking you for a snapshot of the things that help you. We're delighted to have Hollie starting off the chain for us with her poem 'Things That Make Me Happy'.

Read below for steps to help get you started. Aim for your poem to follow the same structure with six couplets, beginning with 'outside my window'. Get creative and share your poem in the box below ready for the next person to read and be inspired by.

Out side my window
A calming sunset is looming
Waves of red and orange spread across the pale blue sky.

Outside my window in the distance I see birds elegantly dancing in the ever colour changing sky.

Outside my window the navy blue blanket of the night is creeping in over the multicoloured sky to make way for the stars to shine and sparkle like little diamonds.

Outside my window the hue of orange street lights appear and for a split second everything falls silent and peaceful.

Outside my window everything is fine today, everything is fine
Rhian

Outside my window there are mountains
So high that they can touch those silky white feathers that float along above them
There are leaves that fall into my garden
Flying free until my dog catches one for me
There is also a wee girl who loves her swing, she walks everywhere
always searching for dandelions
that she can blow into the air
Spreading her happiness seeds everywhere
Everything outside flows, flies, floats
For only then to rest
Above my eternal soft grass
Everything is fine today
Everything is fine
Katrin, 32 - Highlands

Outside my window there is the sky burning orange and blue, where shadows of birds between the leaves of a sycamore tree flicker in and out of view.
Outside my window the light is slipping away, the light is turning to grey.
Outside my window a breeze is pushed up against rows of tenement houses, a patchwork of yellow and blue.
Outside the window everything is fine today, everything is fine.
Tom

Outside my window, I can see a clear sky.
The colour blue soothes my eyes and refreshes mind.
I notice the tree planted last year by my roadside has
grown up and stands tall with it's branches .
The gentle breeze makes it dance elegantly.

Outside my window I hear a sweet laughing sound
I can see a baby laughing and playing happily in the pram
Pushed by her mother.

Outside my window I spread my palms to feel
the touch of fresh air and it's gentle blowing sound
makes me feel positive about nearest and dearest ones
live in a far off land.

While my mind is busy storing all the precious
gifts of the morning, suddenly the door bell rings.
I rush to open the door and find hard working delivery
man standing with a big smile -another precious gift to store.
So everything is fine today, everything is fine
Bharati Roy, age 68

Outside my window there is a blossom ballet in the spring breeze
A lipstick red tulip my daughter planted beneath a porch light that finally works
Outside my window there are neighbours who collect in bins and sign for parcels
If I look up I will see the songbirds in their ivy towers
Everything is fine
Today, everything is fine
Claire

Outside my window there is worms wiggling, inside my room there is my son giggling
Conservatory Doors open, warm breeze blows, muted garden colours, summers calling us.
Come out to play, cats like kittens, prowling on the grass, playfully pouncing
Everything is fine today, everything is fine
zara ashberry Manchester

Outside my window there are eager travellers, revelling in nascent freedom afterglow
To and fro they go back to places disallowed only moments ago
Busy bees pollenating our fragile world
I stand and spy, with my little eye, through partially opened venetian blinds...
Everything is fine today, everything is fine
Paul Tasker 42 Manchester

Outside my window there is colour
Inside my office there is chaos
but I can hear the birds singing
and a pheasant cawing

Tractors pass down the road
and two girls on horseback ride by
it’s raining but the daffodils are still blooming
and the grass is no longer dry

Waiting for my husband to stop work and enjoy this time

Nature is a wonderful healer
Everything is fine, today,
Everything is fine
Carole Fotheringham, Barnard Castle

Outside my window, there is a bird that sings
Tunes of cheery optimism
Inside my garden, there is a tree that blossoms
White petals into green pears
On my bench, there is a kettle that boils
Water I mostly take for granted
On my knee, there is a cat that purrs
Fat with total contentment
On my plate, there is a croissant that flakes
Buttery delight like confetti
In my mug, there is a coffee that steams
Warm flavour into my soul
Everything is fine, today, everything is fine
Ruth, 41, Seaham