Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry

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Are you a children’s poet with a passion for sharing poetry and promoting Australian children’s poets and their work?

An enthusiastic volunteer is needed to take over the administration of this popular blog.

After working on Australian Children’s Poetry for two and a half years, I feel the time has come to step aside and hand over to someone new because I have a number of writing projects that will be demanding more of my attention over coming months. It’s been such an enjoyable experience being involved in the site and connecting with so many wonderful children’s poets. Your generosity in sharing your work with others for the Poem of the Day posts has been overwhelming and it’s always exciting to see what new poems have turned up in my in box in response to the weekly Poetry Prompts, which are fun to create.

Basically the administrator’s role involves receiving poems by email and posting the Poem of the Day to the blog, approving (or trashing spam) comments, updating the A-Z of Australian children’s poets as required and sharing information about competitions and articles about Australian children’s poetry.

If you’re interested in taking on this voluntary role, please contact me at teenawriter@gmail.com or Dianne Bates at dibates@outlook.com

Teena

Yesterday by Robyn Youl

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 I am 72 today,

Yesterday

In Grade Two

The Hobyahs came to stay.

They came through the gloomy gullies

Creep, creep, creeping.

They came through the grey gum-trees

Run, run, running.

They came into my dreams

Skip, skip, skipping.

The Little Old Man

Cut off Little Dog Dingo’s tail

And Little Dog Dingo’s legs

And Little Dog Dingo’s head

To stop Little Dog Dingo barking.

To frighten the Hobyahs away

The Little Old Man

Hid under the bed

When the Hobyahs took

The Little Old Woman away.

The Little Old Man

Was very sorry.

He took Dingo’s tail and his legs and his head

And gave them back to Little Dog Dingo.

Little Dog Dingo saved the Little Old Woman

Little Dog Dingo ate up every one of the Hobyah’s

I am not so sure

There are no Hobyahs now

Even now

Now I am 72.

See for yourself.

Today.

Be My Butterfly by JR Poulter

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Poem of the Day

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Bubbles

Bursting Beautifully

Beyond Blue Bays

Blown By Balmy Breezes

Ann Budden
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #29

Poem of the Day

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To Bee or not?

Is it a bee without a buzz?

It could be a bee with all that fuzz.

But then its wings stick-out too far

and all six legs have got no hair.

 

You want to know the reason why?

Because it is a bee-sized fly!

 

They seem to wear their bee-costumes

and pollinate the same bee-blooms.

Their females are a bee’s worst pest

and lay their eggs in real-bee nests.

 

To be a bee-fly small or large

it helps to be bee-camouflaged.

Celia Berrell
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #29

Celia said: This poem isn’t about bees.  Honest!

http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:5c4d1b74-df10-4cda-9bfc-220490890500

Bombyliidae (Bee Flies)
Bee flies are large, fat, and hairy, often with a long, rigid proboscis. They are excellent mimics of bees, and may have black and yellow stripes along the abdomen. The adults are avid seekers of nectar from various flowers, although a few species feed on pollen. They are important pollinators, and can reach the nectaries of many wildflowers that are inaccessible to other flies. Their larvae are brood parasites on various species of bees and wasps.

 

 

Poetry Prompt #32

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Get set to create! It’s poetry prompt time. I’m sure this image will inspire some wonderful poems about other eras but don’t lock yourself in to only one interpretation. What else can you come up with in response to the prompt?

Thanks to everyone who so enthusiastically supports this site with regular submissions. It couldn’t be what it is without your generous contributions. Don’t forget, if you’ve missed a prompt you can always catch up.

Please email your poems to me at teenawriter@gmail.com as a Word or Text file attachment and add a line or two about your writing process.

Happy writing!

Poem of the Day

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INSIDE/OUTSIDE

 

I have a cat and she lives inside;

Inside the house, where she grows quite fat.

BUT often that fat cat wants to go outside;

Outside the house to hunt for a rat.

 

Inside, outside, inside, outside –

Cat at the window goes meow, meow, meow.

Inside, outside, inside, outside;

Make up your mind, cat, right away, NOW!

 

I have a dog and he lives outside;

Outside the house where he stays on guard.

BUT often that guard dog wants to come inside,

Inside the house and away from his yard.

 

Inside, outside, inside, outside –

Dog at the door going howl, howl, howl.

Inside, outside, inside, outside;

Make up your mind, dog, right away, NOW!

 

Jaz Stutley

 

  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #30

Poem of the Day

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INSIDE OUT

I found a box

I saw ‘inside’

though what’s inside

I could not see.

Without a doubt

it’s inside out –

outside ‘inside’

just stares at me.

Perhaps ‘inside’

should be inside,

and ‘outside’ shown

externally

But no,  ‘inside’

was outside wrote –

What’s ‘writ’ inside

perplexes me.

© Allan Cropper
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #30

Poem of the Day

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The Snooze

 

When Dad’s at the seashore,

This bit he likes best:

After all the swimming,

Take a well-earned rest.

Once lunch is completed,

This is what he’ll choose:

Lying on his towel,

He will have a snooze.

 

Soaking up the sunshine,

Lying on the beach,

Seeking for a suntan,

Drink within his reach,j

How long he will lie there

None of us can guess.

Asked if he’s still snoozing

He just mumbles:”Yes”.

 

We return to swimming,

Wait for him to come,

When it doesn’t happen,

We send back our Mum.

Suddenly Mum wakes him:

“Dave, you’re getting hot!

You look like a lobster,

Lifted from the pot!”

 

Monty Edwards

 Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #15

 

Monty says: “I considered calling the poem “Redback!”, but in order not to confuse, chose “The Snooze”. Although the poem ends as above, one or both the following verses may be added for didactic purposes.”

 

Dad forgot to sunscreen:

Didn’t slip, slop, slap;

Left his head uncovered:

Didn’t wear his cap.

Now his back is blistered,

Face is sore and red,

He will struggle sleeping

Even in his bed.

 

We all learnt a lesson

On the beach that day,

Sunshine is a blessing

When you want to play,

But the sun can hurt you,

If you don’t take care

Best to have protection

With you everywhere.