Todays challenge is to write a poem that takes the form of a family portrait. You could write, for example, a stanza for each member of your family. You could also find an actual snapshot of your family and write a poem about it, spending a little bit of time on each person in the picture. You don't need to observe any particular form or meter. Happy writing!

Leah and Lola

I love my gorgeous daughters, they're everything to me

So let me introduce my twins, thank god that they weren't three

They came into this world, just over seven years ago

We'd only planned to have the one, not two kids in one go

Two months early they were, I remember that day well

My wife rang me at eight am, my excitement I couldn't quell

But my elation turned to horror, when I tried to disembark

Thirty vans had blocked me in, was there nowhere else they could park?

With lots of shuffling and shunting, I managed to escape

Some time had passed, I was worried now, that I would be too late

Eventually I made it, there was my wife in agony

I drove the twenty miles or so, to the hospital in Shrewsbury

But then, when we got there, we were told there were no beds

We waited as they rang around while doctors checked for their little heads

After hours of waiting, we were to be sent seventy miles away

A brand new hospital in Derby, for a month, that's where we'd stay

Five to midnight out popped Lola, with a mischievous, cheeky smile

Forty minutes later came Leah, so we had to wait awhile

Now we celebrate their birthdays, on two separate days

That's two parties, two cakes, and yes it's us who pays

Anyway they were poorly, and put in the children's ICU

My wife lost loads of blood that day, and she was in one too

Three days my poorly wife, was confined to a hospital bed

Full of drugs of all kinds, she was completely off her head

A month passed by, and back to Shrewsbury we were sent

On arrival the girls were whisked away, and tests they underwent

Both girls had jaundice, and Leah had MRSA

How she got that though, not one person could say

Another month came and went, before we could finally leave

As we stepped into the house my dog Paddy, couldn't believe

The surprised look on his face, as we brought the twin girls home

He went straight in his basket, I swear I heard him groan

I was home alone with them, when they took their very first steps

I remember how they wobbled about, then they were off, and doing reps

Now they enjoy running, and with their hands they like to craft

They're always dressing up and posing, just to be photographed

Lola is the bossy one, and likes to have her own way

Leah is quite chilled, and on her own will happily play

One minute they're the best of friends, the next fighting like dog and cat

Then they'll be snuggled watching TV forgetting their little spat

They're seven now and growing, and they're so beautiful, and so clever

They've come a long way in that time

I'll love them both always and forever