Can you keep a secret? Good!
Cos this one’s super hot –
In my desk, amongst the mess,
I found a …. you-know-what.
Now promise you won’t tell a soul
Not even Mary-Lou,
I turned it round and then I found
A note from you-know-who.
I laughed so hard my tonsils ached
I thought I’d nearly die,
It must have happened you-know-when
Because of … you-know-why.
Now don’t you go and blab all this
To Rosie and her lot,
If you do, I’m warning you,
They’ll give us you-know-what.
The Sun is a star
that is burning bright.
Like a furnace
that gives off heat and light.
Like a beacon
emitting sunshine rays.
Like a torch in the sky
changing nights to days.
The Moon is a sphere
made of silent rock.
That orbits the Earth
like a cold round block.
No furnace or beacon.
No torch to run.
Those moonbeams have come
from the headlight Sun.
The Moon doesn’t shine!
It reflects instead.
Like cat’s-eyes at night
on the road ahead.
Like the glint of the Sun
on a tranquil lake.
Like your sparkling eyes
when a smile you make.
The light of the moon
On a clear clear night
Brings out the Fish
But not to bite
Leaping out of the water
Higher each time
Teasing the fishermen
Is not a fish crime?
Meeting in the river
Holding fish school
Teaching the young ones
How not to be fooled
Big ones and small ones
Middle-sized fish
None of these beauties
Will end up on a dish
By the light of the moon
On a bright clear night
Not one fish caught
Not one little bite
An astronaut spooned special pudding last night,
For Hamish, Ramona, Christina and Dwight.
The pudding had stardust and peppermint chips,
With jellybeans, chocolate and icicle tips.
The taste was delightful, the kids wanted more.
They licked all the bowls clean and ran to the store.
The astronaut followed, but fell in a puddle.
His head hit a rock and he said in a muddle –
“We need dusty stars, minty icicle beans,
A packet of chips with some pepper and greens.”
The kids crowded round him and said, “You’re confused,
What you need’s a doctor, your head is quite bruised!”
There once was a poor ballerina
Whose blue tutu was often much cleaner
But she munched on a biscuit
A blunder to risk it
A Tim-Tam, a small misdemeanour.
I was a happy ballerina
But now I’m feeling blue.
If you had made this blunder,
You’d be unhappy too.
I was feeling rather peckish,
So what did I do?
I ate a crunchy biscuit.
Now the crumbs are in my shoe!
There was a certain platypus
He lived in five mile creek,
Who (prompted by the latest trend)
Went vegan for a week.
He tried butternut pumpkin cubes
And purple eggplant too.
He prodded peas with spoon and fork
And sipped hot mushroom stew.
He crunched on juicy celery,
Gave artichokes a try,
Sautéed leafy silver beet,
And munched on broccoli.
No doubt the fare was healthy,
But it mostly went to waste,
For those nutritious vegetables
Just didn’t suit his taste.
So he returned to worms and such
To bugs and shrimp so fine,
And left the vegetables to us;
Omnivorous mankind.
The box looked rather ancient:
It was made of weathered wood.
They’d placed it on a varnished shelf
Where now it mutely stood.
Its latch was rather rusty,
Suggesting use at sea,
I guessed it was a sailor’s box:
That’s how it seemed to me.
I saw on it some markings
And wondered what they meant,
A letter “C” and “26”
But what was their intent?
Was “C” perhaps for “Captain”,
But why the numbers too?
I came to the conclusion
More likely “C” was “Crew”.
Each crewman had a number,
And each his box to store
Whatever most he valued,
Till he was back on shore.
I felt this was the answer.
What else then could it be,
But storage for a sailor?
That’s how it seemed to me.
The box was quite discoloured
As if it once was wet:
A relic from a wreck perhaps,
That divers dived to get.
Now salvaged from the sea bed,
Displayed for all to see,
It still held many secrets.
This fascinated me!
Whoever once had used it,
Must surely now have died.
I looked at it intently:
What had it held inside?
Beneath it was a notice.
Perhaps this held a clue?
I stopped so I could read it,
As I’d seen others do.
Just then I heard my teacher
Quite firmly call my name.
It seemed my class was moving on
So I must do the same.
Our bus outside was waiting.
I clearly couldn’t stay,
But I am now determined
I’ll go back there one day!
Monty says: “I wrote this in sympathy with children who often find it frustrating when they are prevented by adult time constraints from satisfying their curiosity about the things that interest them. Despite this, some children will go on to demonstrate that they have the confidence and resourcefulness to continue their search for answers independently.
It’s a zip line from the sky,
A flying fox of joy,
A slippery dip of shiny warmth
For every girl and boy.
Swing out to touch the sunbeams,
Spin ’round to chase the light.
Run and duck and climb and jump
To catch the sun’s delight.
Penny said: I am heavily influenced by the weather. Sunshiny days are the best medicine. As soon as I thought about my audience – children – this poem just flowed joyfully out.
This is a tale of a boy named Garth
Who was far too lazy to have a bath.
One night when he did, he suddenly spied
A black ring running around every side.
When he asked his mum, “What’s that thing?”
She took a look and said, “A black bath ring!”
“It’s the dirt from when you walked in the mud,
“And that blob of gunk is when you fell ker-THUD!
“And see all that mess stuck around the ends?
“That came from playing with your friends.”
She got a soft cloth and her special spray,
And in no time at all scrubbed the bath ring away.
“That was hard work,” Garth told his mother,
“I have an idea to save all that bother.”
And he said with the widest smile she’d seen,
“Why don’t I stay dirty so the bath stays clean?”
Australian Children’s Poetry 