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.
Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry
“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
“Night Stalker” by Julie Cahill
Leave a commentIt 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
Leave a commentMr. 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.
“Kickflips in Vienna” by James Aitchison
Leave a commentKICKFLIPS 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.
“Lamb Chop, Sharni and Friends” by Toni Newell
Leave a commentLamb 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,
But most of all she loved Shari,
And the puppet team.
“Archie” by James Aitchison
Leave a commentARCHIE
Christopher Robin went down with Alice
To see the new baby at Buckingham Palace.
There they found Archie,
Dressed in Versace,
Having his tea with the Queen.
Prince Harry and Meghan were there in style,
And you should have seen Her Majesty’s smile!
It was a great date
To come celebrate
The cutest baby they’d seen.
James Aitchison
“It’s Bear School” by Louise McCarthy
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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” by Penny Szentkuti
Leave a commentTea 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
Australian Children’s Poetry 