Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry

“Ive never been in a limousine” by Pamela Ueckerman

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I’ve never been in a limousine,

But I’ve sat on the back of a horse.  

I’ve pedalled a trike and a two-wheeled bike, 

with a bicycle bell, of course.

 

I’ve travelled by train there and back again 

and sometimes transferred to a tram.

I’ve stood on a bus, such a terrible fuss, 

In a terrible traffic jam.

 

I’ve soared in a plane on a visit to Spain,

Where I paddled a river canoe.

I’ve sailed in a boat and I’ve sat on a float,

And I’ve been in a car or two.

 

I’ve ridden balloons over murky lagoons,

I’ve scooted, I’ve skated, I’ve cruised.

But there is a new word that I recently heard,

And it has me almighty amused.

 

I’m not one to brag or to wave my own flag,

And I’m not in the least particular,

But I’ve heard of this train so will someone explain,

What this thing is they call a funicular?

 

“Once Upon a Time” by J.R. Poulter

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Once Upon a Time    by J.R.Poulter

Once upon a long ago

In the distant mists of time

There was a prince who had to make

A poesy all in rhyme.

 

He had to weave a wondrous tale

For his intended bride,

That swept the legends of the land

The myths from far and wide

 

Into one vast saga,

A tome to end all tomes!

He set out to collect the tales,

It took him far from home.

 

The prince crossed many deserts,

He climbed  too many hills,

He walked through sun and snow and sleet.

He suffered many ills!

 

At last, he had his great big book!

At last, he’d wed his bride!

But as he neared the castle,

He heard a mournful sigh…

 

What stood there was a ruin,

Wind moaned through empty halls.

Of all the pomp and pageantry,

Nothing was left at all…

 

Amidst a drape of spider webs

Within the central court,

He found a tomb whose statuary

Had been most marvelous wrought.

 

There was his bride, robed as a queen,

Her king was by her side.

A scroll lay open on her lap

Of fictions, fables, lies…

 

The prince stood still, 

As turned to stone.

The ancient beams

Above him groaned.

 

A crack, a scream,

He was no more.

The Tome of Tales 

Lay on the floor.

 

The wind tore at the pages,

Tossing them far away.

All that was left, the marble tomb

And what it had to say,

 

JR Poulter

“Ants” by Ron Marsh

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ANTS

I was eating supper very late,

And chanced to look upon my plate,

A little black ant standing there,

Just about to share my fare.

 

I said to him “now listen mate,

I want you quickly off my plate”.

To ants one should not be so bold,

He’s brought back friends a hundred-fold.

“Kookaburra” by Stephanie Boase

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Kookaburra sits

On a clothes line tall,

Carefully surveying

The urban sprawl.

Spying a movement

In the grass,

He swoops down swiftly.

Dinner at last!

Won’t you laugh kookaburra,

Laugh for me?

Your life is so much harder

Than it used to be.

(Photo credit: © CC Richards and Daytripper Sippers, 2014)

“A bite of a laugh” by Alex Phelan

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A bite of a laugh…

 

On the patio last Thursday

l was cleaning the dust away

the chairs hadn’t been wiped for ages

and for this neglect I would pay.

 

My satisfied duster flicked over

each heavily soiled chair 

as cobwebs flew like magic 

through the warm and humid air.

 

A sudden sensation – a tickle –

a panic at ankle height

a tiny black menacing spider 

had had more than its size in fright.

 

It wasn’t too happy about this

in fact it was mighty mad

so with lightning force it bit me

then hid in the nearest plant.

 

Who’d imagine a tiny black spider 

could inflict such searing pain

I fell to the patio tiles

swore

never to dust again.

 

The pain in the ankle grew sharper 

the skin turned light pink and then red

The doc she prescribed penicillin, 

 intoned in a voice that I dread,

“You will need to take fourteen days of it

or you just might end up 

quite dead.”

“Night Stalker” by Julie Cahill

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It seems of late, a cheeky elf has morphed inside of me
At night I lay here wide awake, then sneak away to see
Creatures great and creatures small, some all lithe and inky
Some are kind and others hungry and some are downright stinky
Flitting in between the trees, over hill and dale
Suddenly I’m stationary, morphed into a snail
My Mum will worry when she finds I’m nowhere to be found
‘I’m down here, Mum, in the bushes sliding on the ground.’
But as I crane my neck right out, far out from my shell
My arms fall out, turn to wings and lift me from that hell
I’m soaring now; a butterfly, orange, green and blue and as I land I’m now confronted by a young girl’s shoe
It looks familiar, that it does, pressed against my nose
Good gracious I was dreaming then almost comatose
I must have fallen from my bed, knocked myself unconscious
I twitch each part hoping that every part’s responsive
I hear Mum calling
‘Breakfast time,’ I stand and dust my pride
But don’t you worry, Cheeky Elf is safely tucked inside.

“Mr Squiggle:the man from the moon” by Andrew Carter

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Mr. Squiggle: the man from the moon

 

Here’s Mr. Squiggle, with lots of puns for everyone

Here’s Mr. Squiggle, sing a tune from the moon

You can see with glee his home’s a mystery

Crater Crescent – his home on the moon.

 

Blackboard says, ‘upside-down, upside down’

‘Hurry-up, hurry-up,’ Easel frowns,

Steamshovel has a joke, Mr. Squiggle says, ‘soon’

‘Knock, knock,’ ‘I’m home on the moon’

 

Children write-in squiggles and tricky riddles

Mr. Squiggle solves scribbly dibbly scribbles

Pencils by his nose, everything he knows

He walks the moon with a happy lunar tune

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“Winter Wind” by J.R. Poulter

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“Kickflips in Vienna” by James Aitchison

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KICKFLIPS IN VIENNA

Vienna’s railway station,

the Vienna Hauptbahnhof,

is not just very modern —

it will blow your socks right off!

 

The roofs go up,

the roofs go down,

the greatest ramps in town.

As trains pull in

and trains pull out,

you can slide on down.

 

Achtung, achtung!

Do an ollie!

Then a darkslide,

Ja, ja, ja!

Goofy-Foot and fakie next,

Vienna’s station is the best!

 

Translation note: in German, a Hauptbahnof is a city’s main train station.

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“Lamb chop, Sharni and Friends” by Toni Newell

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Lamb Chop , Shari and Friends

Lamb Chop was a little lamb,

Who shared a sock with Shari,

And Shari shared her voice with her,

And never made her hurry.

They used to talk a lot about,

People and various things,

And Lamb Chop could get feisty,

With Shari and her castings.

Lolly Pincus was Lamb Chop’s friend,

A bestie you could say,

Who had a crush on Hush Puppy,

Another friend at play.

However, more than often,

She would speak before she thought at all,

And Shari would have to rescue her,

To keep her from the fall.

Lamb Chop could be ever so sweet,

And she could also be mean,

But most of all she loved Shari,

And the puppet team.