We pinch a tea towel for a sail,

And to the deck the ladder scale.

With any luck we’ll spy a whale

From the Good Ship Gumtree.

 

We climb the rigging till we stop;

Reach the crow’s nest up tiptop,

Then down upon the floor we flop,

On the Good Ship Gumtree.

 

No crows upon this ship today,

But cockies screech and fly away.

And sailing onwards, branches sway

On the Good Ship Gumtree.

 

The horizon is a sea of green:

The biggest waves you’ve ever seen.

Only the breeze knows where we’ve been

On the Good Ship Gumtree.

 

Ahoy, ahoy, what’s that ahead?

A school of fish – a flock instead?

Parrotfish of blue and red

Around the Good Ship Gumtree.

 

And when sunset floods the sky

We head to port and dock nearby.

“Was it fun?” asks Mum. “Aye, aye,

We sailed the Good Ship Gumtree.”

 

 

When I was tree-climbing age, I enjoyed the view from the top branches, and only once had to be rescued!

Jaz Stutley