A GREEN QUEEN?
Should one consider ‘going green’
if one’s lot is being Queen,
and majesty’s one’s thing?
Should one think of steps to take
to change one’s ways for the planet’s sake?
or would one choose to cling
to royal extravagance, glamour and show
as part of one’s deal, so mere Joe Blow
must be the one to care?
Should Royals have to do their bit?
Pull their weight? Show true grit?
Wouldn’t that be fair?
Kate O’Neil
Oi, Turn the Lights Off!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder where you are! Hidden by the orange glow
Of the city far below.
Curse this wretched light pollution! Can’t we find some bright solution?
Chris Owen 2019 (with apologies to Jane Taylor)
Perpetual Trophy
It stood there in the cabinet:
The cup we all desired,
Engraved with names of winners past:
The stars we all admired.
Now watch us train with fierce intent
To match, then beat their best
For striving for that lofty goal
Will help us top the rest.
But if our team should fail the tests
On which success depends,
There will remain a greater prize:
A lasting group of friends
Space Duster SiO2 by Celia Berrell
A man-made material
Silica aerogel
recently travelled in outer space
collecting the particles
shed by a comet’s tail
bringing them back to a NASA base.
A frothy glass matrix
of mostly air – sandy mix
lighter than feathers and stronger than steel
is brittle-snap crazy
and seems smoky-hazy.
When rubbed on a surface it gives out a squeal!
This stiff-sponge sensation
has great insulation
preventing the passage of heat through its layer.
Like a piece of blue sky
that is crisp, light and dry
its edges look fuzzy, like snap-frozen air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfUIc6efV3w
Lawrence Livermore Quest Lab video
But just for a laugh, just for something different to do
I thought I’d write a poem which would get the kind of review
That you wouldn’t wipe your bum with, for fear of being contaminated
Write one for which the reviewers had only vitriolic hatred
So this is my offering to put in the bad poem section
I hope it gets added to many bad poem collections
But I’d like it to be known, I make this statement bold
That all my other poems are sheer solid gold!
Revolution
Many moons ago
Copernicus, you know
Unearthed that planets dance around the sun
The earth, it seemed, was not
The central turning spot
Around which universal bodies spun
Then came Galileo
Another spacey fellow
Who thought Copernicus was quite correct
But the church became afraid
Of the viewpoints being made
So they locked him up to mute his intellect
But before these confrontations
As he peered at constellations
Through his telescope, he soon discovered more
While the earth had only one,
A greater distance from the sun
Was Jupiter with moons that totaled four
Now centuries down the track
As we marvel, looking back
Just how very brave these innovators were
Giving birth to modern science
With their obstinate defiance
Means that trips to outer space can now occur
I was out in the garden
Just digging away
And planting some seeds
On this beautiful day,
When I dug up a lamp
Quite out of the blue,
It must have been magic,
I knew what to do.
I rubbed on the lamp
And a Genie appeared,
Not a beautiful girl
But a fellow I feared!
‘You’re disturbing my sleep!’
The Genie said.
‘This had better be good,
Or I’ll pummel your head.’
A gruesome beard
A devilish grin
I wished like hell
I could put him back in.
‘Well what do you want?’
The bully pursued.
‘Thank you for asking,’
I sheepishly mewed.
‘Now, get on with your wish,
I was having a dream
of a beautiful maiden.
We were sharing ice-cream.’
‘Really?’ I said,
And I laughed till I cried.
The Genie was miffed,
I had injured his pride.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said,
And he calmed down a tad.
‘So what is your wish?’
That made me feel glad.
‘I can’t wait all day’,
With his hands on his hips
I considered my choices,
This came to my lips:
‘I know what I want
for us both in the end.
Stay here in Carnegie
and just be my friend.’
BEWARE THE IDEAS OF MARCH
The Ideas of March
are meant to be mad,
so get with the times;
be suitably clad.
The hatters are busy –
no time to be lazy –
and what they are doing
is totally crazy.
So go the full motley –
(March is your chance)
Kick up your heels
in a wacky dance.
Let down your hair
or go in for shaving.
My crazy idea is to
go out stark raving.
I told all my friends.
They served me a warning:
‘Stay home. Don’t go out.
This isn’t your morning.
If you do your thing
and defy our advice
the knives will be out.
You’d better think twice.’
Australian Children’s Poetry 