There’s a bear in there!
Who should I tell?
There are people inside,
I try to yell.
It’s a grizzly bear!
It will chase you,
It will chase you.
But don’t despair,
There’s a window – square,
There’s a round and an arch,
Hurry, hurry; quick march
Which shape do you pick?
Tick-tock, tock-tick.
Be fast; not slow.
Be fast; not slow.
Now the people have fled,
But the story’s unread.
With a book in his paws,
The grizzly bear roars –
“It’s time for a tale.
Sit, listen, don’t wail.”
It’s bear school!
It’s bear school!
Tea and TV
‘Tea and TV’ –
that precious half hour,
the age old song,
its siren power.
Snuggled on the couch,
a snack plate to nibble,
a peep through the windows,
Teds Big and Little.
A spot of craft
and a lively tune,
a welcome diversion
in the long afternoon.
Tea and TV,
whatever the weather,
those faces were friends,
they held us together
Penny Szentkuti
A Circus in Time
Mum, “The big top is here, a three-ring circus hits town
Lions, tigers, apes and other trained animals, it’s here for six weeks.
Sideshows, freak shows, clowns between acts with dotted gowns
Musicians, magicians, acrobats and jugglers with spotty cheeks.”
The white-top’s up, we’re at The Greatest Show – it’s last moon
A circus is alive, festooned with shooting galleries, it’s intense.
Signs are all around, mystical and magical like a cartoon
Buggies drive, statues come alive, dancers jive in tents.
A swinger catches the rope with grace, without a care in air
Acrobats do fly tricks with elegance – seeming to be at ease.
One falls from grace to the trampoline, then bounces from despair
She’s the bee’s knees catching a bar with ease – a flying trapeze.
Fireworks pop, a whip-cracker cracks cracking black whips
A clown loses his pants when he hears a firecracker crack.
Now to the kiosk for fairyfloss, hotdogs, donuts and hot chips
A circus was here for a time, next day they start to pack.
Circus-Apprentice
I’m learning it all – acrobatics, clowning,
fire from a sleeve: my hand’s a wand.
I weave my life around dancing elephants
who spray the air while turning their backs
on the crowd;
lions who never put a foot wrong.
I’m taking their cue, I’ve seen
what people want.
Prancing ponies teach me steps:
pacing, adroitness, like my fellow-dancers
keeping their spot.
I’m walking the high-wire, making my mark
poised, balanced, don ’t look away –
you are my gravity’s other edge.
© Katherine Gallagher
(Published in Carnival-Edge: New & Selected Poems (Arc Publications, 2010)
Make Your Own Circus
For sale! A bargain! A circus tent!
You’ll find that it’s really money well spent.
It has an arena and one thousand chairs,
The overall floor space is fifty-one squares.
It’s as high as it’s wide,
But now empty inside…
You see…
I was a ringmaster,
I was a clown,
I walked the tightrope,
I swung upside down,
While riding a unicycle I juggled ten balls;
It was fun!
It was life! Oh I had a ball!
The ups and the downs; the highs and the lows,
But now it is time- I take my repose.
I start a fresh role; a chapter that’s new-
I recall my experiences and tell them to you.
So what do you say – a bargain or no?
I bought this canvas a long time ago.
So if you are keen this tent is for you –
Sometimes there’ll be cheers; sometimes there’ll be boos.
Nanna Sue is training fleas,
She feeds them piles of buttered peas,
They jump through hoops
And swing trapeze,
Performing with such skill and ease.
But look out please, my darling fleas!
Brace your elbows!
Lock your knees!
Your circus trainer’s going to sneeze;
A devastating Nanna breeze!
We weep and wail at times like these.
Such sudden, strange catastrophes.
Leo the Lion.
I’ve been in a circus, for almost five years,
I have been taught tricks, and also to fear.
The whip has cracked, and I’m told to stand,
On my hind legs, at his command.
I’m asked to jump up, onto a stool,
And obey these orders, just like a fool.
The whip has cracked, and I jump off,
The Ringmaster bows and his hat does doff.
I hear the audience, clap and cheer,
And my heart feels heavy as it’s clear,
That I will never, ever again roam free,
And I’ll be forced to stay here, in misery.
Now I’m told to strut around,
Then I drop onto the ground,
Where I roll over once, then twice,
And then again, which makes it thrice.
The whip has cracked, and up I stand,
Back onto the stool at his command.
Now I jump, through hoops, on fire,
Whilst the audience gasps, as if in a choir.
And I wonder, would they like to be,
Here in this cage, instead of me.
After my job, has been done,
I’m returned to the small cage, I can see the sun,
I close my eyes and sniff the breeze,
And imagine I’m back in the wild, under trees.
Teacher Notes
For and Against animals in circus
Muse on the Moon
The Moon reveals so many things
for humankind to ponder on.
An anchor in celestial seas
or lunar clock to gaze upon.
Ambassador for gravity,
this Queen of Tides is mighty strong.
A temptress for astrology’s
imagined magic – right or wrong.
Love’s locket hung in silent song
reflecting what the Sun once shone.
Ellipse, eclipsed and wandered on,
our lunar quests go on and on.
The Moon reveals so many things
for humankind to wonder on.
Australian Children’s Poetry 