Hey you!
Stop staring at me like that!
Yeah, you!
I don’t like the way
You’re looking at me…
With your beady little eyes
And that sad cry of yours.
It doesn’t fool me,
Not one little bit.
Hey! Don’t you come any closer!
No way, pal, you’re just
Asking for trouble.
C’mon, quit your begging.
I know your type.
I’ll give you one,
And then all of your
Mates show up,
Demanding more…
Ah, no, cut with the crying.
Okay, then, maybe just one little…
Hot, salty, crunchy chip.
Aghhhhhh!!!!!
Under a canopy of fig trees
we pass a busker, watch his hands dance
over the surface of the drum and hear
music— soft, warm, bright.
Honey sounds that take us past the
food stalls and hot Afghani bread filled
with leeks and onion. I follow behind a girl
who carries a white Persian cat. Its pampered
face peers over her shoulder at me.
The Terrible Tale of Lazy Fred who Starved to Death.
From Aesop’s Fable: The Grasshopper and the Ants.
Grasshopper Fred.
Dark green
Stripes of yellow
Could be seen.
Fred loved to
Hop!
Hop!
Hop!
In the warm summer sun!
Hopping!
Hopping!
Hopping!
Just so much fun!
Ants!
Ants!
Ants!
Small, busy and black.
Never the ones to slack!
Work!
Work!
Work!
Never the ones to shirk!
Fred said:
Why do you work all day?
I would rather play!
The Ants gave their reply:
We work in the summer heat.
We gather food to eat.
We store our winter Supply.
Without food we will die!
Winter came with frost and snow.
Where will poor Fred go?
The ants have locked their door!
Food?
Food?
Food?
No food anymore!
Poor Fred!
Stone dead!
What a marvelous treat!
Sausage rolls.
With grasshopper meat!
Providence U3A: March 16th 2015
Prudence Marsh is the nom-de-plume of the U3A DIY Poetry Group
It’s a topsy turvy kind of day
My head is in a spin
What’s down is up, what’s up is down
I’m neither out nor in
I’ll try on lots of outfits
and brush and style my hair
It’s a topsy turvy kind of day
but I don’t really care
It’s a muddily fuddily way I feel
My head is in a fog
I think I’ll put my runners on
and go out for a jog
I’ll race the other joggers
to see if I can win
It’s a muddily fuddily way I feel
but comfy in my skin
It’s a higgledy piggledy afternoon
My head is in a cloud
I think I’ll put my headphones on
Play music way up loud
I’ll dance around my bedroom
where no one else can see
It’s a higgledy piggledy afternoon
and that’s just fine with me
We’re sitting on a picnic rug
beside our lemon tree.
We pass around the water jug
then start to eat our tea.
I’m staring at a Brussels sprout
with mounting discontent
When I suggested eating out
this wasn’t what I meant!
We scrabble over sun
warmed rocks and peer into
rock pools. Small crabs scuttle
sideways, sea anemones wave
and we climb on further- feet slip
in rubber thongs and we glimpse
a squishy sea cucumber, silkworm
soft. In another pool lies a blue starfish.
We race to the ocean to cool our skin,
water so clear we see a large bream flick
its tail and swim off into the depths.
Elephants’ noses just growses and growses
Till they’re trumpy and trunky and long.
They can smell gone off cheese on an African breeze
When it’s left in a fridge in Hong Kong.
They can wash twenty buses without too much fusses
And pick up a forest of trees.
Their trunks are so long, when a cold comes along
Then it takes them an hour to sneeze.
They can tie them in knots – lots of knots, lots and lots.
They can hang from the hills in Burrundi.
They can tell smells apart – if you give them a fart
They will know what you’ve eaten last Monday.
Elephants’ trunks are so useful, me thunks.
Much more useful than our little snozzles.
And when they are dead and we dig up their heads
They make far much more interesting fozzils.
On my bike,
I pedal fast.
Building speed,
My heart swells,
The wind whirls,
Tugging at my clothes,
Whipping, snapping,
Ticking spokes,
Quicken down the hill.
I’m racing,
I’m in front.
Wibble, wobble,
I straighten in time.
Wiggle, squiggle,
I keep my line.
Low on the handle-bars.
Hang on,
Hunker down!
Jiggle, joggle,
I’m in the gravel!
Swish swoosh,
Look how fast I travel.
I’m flying,
I’m flying in the sky.
Up on my toes,
Pushing, pulling,
Puffing panting,
Legs burning,
Lungs bursting,
I see it,
I’m so close,
At last, my destination –
The ice-cream shop.
Someone said Celebrity News
wants to know what pet I’ll choose.
And since my choice will start a trend
around the world, my choice of friend
will take some very careful thought.
“A pet’s for life” is what we’re taught.
I’ve never liked domestic cats.
They have a guilty look – and that’s
because they slink too much. They move
too shiftily. Which goes to prove
they’re up to something. On the prowl.
And then at night… You’ve heard them howl!
They even make a yowling noise
when they want food or milk or toys.
And after these appalling rages
they eat, then slump, and sleep for ages.
Where’s the fun in that? I ask.
So now I’ve set myself the task
of looking for a better pet.
And, first things first, I’d like to get
a handsome one with stylish air
(to complement my fashion flair).
And then of course I think it should
be most adoring, loyal and good.
I’d like it to have attitude
but not too much – which would exclude
that other pest, the talking bird.
You won’t believe the things I’ve heard
some parrots say. They’ve got a cheek.
I tell them straight, “Go wash your beak
out. Use the soap, and don’t you ever
say such words again. No never.”
I simply wouldn’t take that risk.
I do like baby things that frisk,
like puppies, lambs and foals and such,
But when they’re older, not so much-
not when they lose that joyful spring.
And yes –there is another thing –
I like a pet that’s always clean,
So… maybe goldfish? I have seen
some gorgeous frilly ones. But no,
I’d like a pet who’ll join my show
and share the limelight. If it’s mine
it must be dazzling. It should shine
and be a star as bright as me.
Do you know what my pet should be?
Pardon? What would you suggest?
Do tell me what you think is best.
You think the wisest choice for me
is a large pet rock! Well, mission done
IF I can choose a diamond one.
How right you are. And for my part
I’ll love that rock with all my heart.
I’ll take it everywhere with me
and show it off for all to see.
How good of you to recommend
the perfect pet, a girl’s best friend.
Do not pat a cranky cat!
Do not jig with a pig!
Do not steal a seal!
Do not lick a chick!
Do not wear a llama’s ‘jamas!
Do not dine with swine!
Do not stare at a bear!
Do not smile at a crocodile!
Do not force a horse!
Do not pull a bull!
Do not twirl a girl!
Do not annoy a boy!
Australian Children’s Poetry 