Long-lost George Michael poems written when he was 11 found by old primary school friend in yearbook
The late singer showcased his creativity at a young age with two poems in primary school yearbook
POEMS penned by an 11-year-old George Michael have been unearthed by a former school friend of the late star.
Penny Ling, 51, attended the same school as the Wham! and Careless Whisper singer where the pair were firm friends.
Penny says she discovered poems written by the star - who died on Christmas Day 2016 aged 53 - by chance when she was going through old files.
However she kept the notes from George penned in an old Roe Green Junior School yearbook secret for 20 years - only telling close friends about the writing's existence.
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Following the loss of the chart topping star, Penny now feels the time is right to share the early evidence of George's incredible abilities with the world.
"I went and looked through my school book to see if there was any sign of him in there and in fact there were two poems," Penny revealed.
"I knew George Michael from my childhood. He lived over the back of my best friend Lisa's house and we used to play together," she said.
"He was Georgios, or his family used to call him Yog or Yorg, but all us north London kids used to call him Goetgios," she explained further.
Penny says the yearbook was published once per year and that she was surprised to find the work by George when she rediscovered the book years after leaving the school.
"For an eleven-year-old I think the way it's written is quite complex. He was a couple of years above me," she said.
"Back then we had the same teacher called Mr Ian Greenwood who taught creative writing. I wonder whether part of George's significant writing ability stems from that class," she pondered.
One poem is titled The Story of a Horse and is signed by Georgios Panayiotou and goes as follows;
"Once there was a lonely horse, weeping on a stack of hay,
"The gun was ready, the bullet was hot, the horse had broken a leg that day.
"The dog was barking, the chickens were screaming, the cows were mooing, the sun was gleaming.
"The farmer closed his eyes,
"And dropped the gun, he hadn't shot,
"But the horse had run.
"He ran through the streets,
"With loud a sound,
"And then he fell, upon the ground.
"The townspeople said, that a horse that is lame,
"Can never really be brought to the tame,
"They said he was mad, that he should be slain
"And never was he seen again."
A second poem, titled Sounds in the Night, is signed under a psydonom 'Professor Whatsisname' and under the Alias G. Panayiotou'.
It reads: "Beyond the world of sight, there is a sixth dimension of sound, and in many cases, sound beats sight, and the reason?
"Sight is blacked out by the night, and that is where sounds comes in.
"It stands to reason that what you can't see.... you can hear!
"And the same applies for daytime, only in reverse.
"In other words, what you can't hear, you can see
"And that is why I am turning the subject to night.
"Now what I've forgotten to tell you, I'm sure something slipped my tongue.
"Ah! Now I remember, you'll never guess what I have to say to you...... I am blind!!!"
Penny offered insight into what the young George Michael was like, saying: "'I probably knew him from about six to nine years old, so he would have been nine to eleven roughly."
She added: "I found him to be one of these people to be reasonable quiet and studious. He absorbed what was going on around him. He was not a flash person or didn't like to show off. He didn't stand out as been exceptional or different. He was just like the rest of us."
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