Watermelon Boy
One time I saw a kid on telly
Eating watermelon;
The pink bit and the skin.
I wondered how
He managed it,
How did he fit it in?
How did his teeth
Get through the green.
So thick and hard and tough?
Surely the yummy,
juicy guts inside it
Were enough?
But nope,
This kid kept eating.
Both the green bit and the pink.
Then he looked straight at the camera,
And he gave
A cheeky wink.
Diving Into a Book
Summer time is a good time to escape the heat by bathing in the sea or in a swimming pool.
Diving into a good book is a bit like diving into a swimming pool according to the poet.
Activity: Write a short argument for why this might be a good comparison or why not.
Discussion: How can books –
Immerse us in ‘wondrous lands’
Get us involved in ‘plots and plans’?
Activity: Write a short description of the plot of a story you have just read or are reading and talk about what new ideas, information, or ways of thinking it has shown you. How is it different to other stories you have read? How is it different to your own life and experience?
Leaving home
I think I’ll leave home
‘cause just lately I’ve found
that with all that I do
I am never around.
There’s Drama on Mondays
from six until eight
and it’s not long to bed
when I get home so late.
On Tuesdays there’s tennis,
an hour long session
and Wednesdays are saved
for the Yamaha lesson.
Evenings on Thursdays
are always the same.
I train with my team
for the next footy game.
On Fridays it’s swimming,
I’m off to the pool
and for hours in between
I’m just sitting at school.
So, I’m hardly at home,
no, I’m never about.
I may as well pack up my things…
and move out!
First published in “Giggles and Niggles” (Haddington Press, 2007)
South Beach
This is the dangerous time, sky clouding:
lifesavers on the alert, intermittently moving the flags,
shoals of swimmers still keening the fray.
Only a narrow stretch of ocean left now
between the signposts, the spume growing wilder
lifting more boldly – you imagine yourself drawn in,
tugged all ways past the horizon.
Isn’t it enough just to be here on this ivory sand
watching breakers curl against clouds darkening, still far out,
spellbound by the limitless, the reach of coast?
Six o’clock now, the show’s closing down.
A few paragliders swoop in
while children put final touches to their sandcastle.
Soon they’ll carry water to the moat.
©Katherine Gallagher2010
(from Carnival Edge: New & Selected Poems, Arc Publications, 2010)
Calling for “All things Summer” poems please before we head into December.
Here is a chart of prompt words to get you started.
Send poems to:
poemoftheday.jaxton@gmail.com
Cheers
Jeanie
A plug for Jackie’s Spring Poetry competition closes 30th November
And this weeks quote:
Four Legs
Four legs and a tail –
it could be a dog.
Four legs and a croak?
That’s a frog!
Four legs and a hump –
it must be a camel.
Four legs and fur?
It’s some kind of mammal.
But four legs and a mane –
long legs for trotting,
strong galloping legs,
and a tail for fly swatting?
That’s easy now,
I know it of course!
That four legged friend
is a horse.
Penny Szentkuti
The Thing-a-me-bunyaroo
The Thing-a-me-bunyaroo
Is a very strange creature, it’s true!
He’s as tall as a man
And stout as a ram
With a long, shaggy coat of blue.
The Thing-a-me-bunyaroo
Loves to find nuts to chew.
His teeth are as strong
As the river is long
But he also loves apple stew.
The Thing-a-me-bunyaroo
Has been seen by very few.
He hides in the billabong by day
And then comes happily out to play
At night, amongst the dew.
The Thing-a-me-bunyaroo;
Where to find him? I haven’t a clue!
I’d like to meet him just for fun,
Play ‘Hide and Seek’ or ‘Tag and Run’
With the Thing-a-me-bunyaroo… Wouldn’t you?
A SEASONAL TELESTITCH
The end of cold days:
Farewell! Adieu!
The sun rises warm
But expect a quick storm,
Then catch a wave —
It’s my kind of weather!
The sunsets glow red
Across Australia,
We’re all on holiday —
The best of all times!
James Aitchison
TEACHERS’ NOTES by James Aitchison
A telestitch is the opposite of an acrostic. Discover the poem’s hidden message by reading the last letter (rather than the first) of each line.
Give it a try
And most of all — have fun!
Let the show go on
For you and me
it’s free to see.
The greatest show around.
The cast’s
eleven million of
the life forms that abound.
From big-screen species
super-stars
like humans; dolphins; whales.
To tiniest of
microbes making
sure our show won’t fail.
The plants provide
the perfect props
and stunning back-drop scenes.
All intertwined
with DNA
and fascinating genes.
The show is so
tremendous.
Full of life’s variety.
Our planet Earth’s
X-factor is …
BIO-DIVERSITY!
First published in CSIRO’s Scientrifficmagazine, No 65 January 2010
Australian Children’s Poetry Website 