Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry

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My dog Jazzy

by Gabrielle Bryden

 

Best friends can be short or tall
bright or quiet

booky or sporty
anything at all,
mine just happens to be
a goofy, woolly, poodly, woodly
labradoodley type beastie
with a coat of gold,
soft as marshmallows.
Pinkest tongue, cool wet nose
that reminds me when
a hug is due,
boofy head that rests on my legs
like I’m the best pillow
ever,
following me

from room to room,
my loyal shadow, liquid eyes
of chocolate brown,
forever sad
even when eating,
but a shaggy, waggy tail
reveals a heart filled with happy
jazzy, fizzy stuff
that bubbles all around me,
tickling me with

love.

 

 

 

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Raising parents

by Jenny Erlanger

 

I’ve told them dinner must be served

at six o’clock each night.

How hard is that, I ask, to understand?

I’ve told them when my friends come round

to stay right out of sight,

another very practical command.

I’ve told my dad to clear away

the mess inside the shed

and Mum to tidy up the pantry shelves.

It seems they haven’t listened

to a single word I’ve said.

They’re clearly much too focused on themselves.

It’s time they learned that I’m the boss,

that I make all the rules,

that life was always meant to be that way.

They’re proving hard to educate,

this stubborn pair of fools.

I’ve yet to give an order they’ll obey!

 

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History through the ages

by Charlotte Riley

 

History is like going into another world

Where legends of kings are unfurled

So travel with me

Through the French Dynasty

Where we shall meet the short man Napoleon

Nah let’s go to a Mongolian

Place where Genghis Khan resides

With his army under tented hides

Then we shall go see Billy the Kid

And right after that we shall get rid

Of that English monster Jack the Ripper

And kill him with a kipper

Now let’s go see Abraham Lincoln

Who is quite surely thinkin’

How to abolish slavery

I admire him for his bravery

Oh and look over there it’s Elizabeth the first

Boy she really looks like she’s going to burst

After eating all that luxurious food

Oh my she just burped, how very rude

Now we shall go visit Henry Third

My oh my, he’s such a nerd

Quickly let’s go and see Julius Caesar

Who is really quite the crowd pleaser

And Leonardo Da Vinci is painting the Mona Lisa

Let us watch him and eat some pizza

So now we should go see famous Socrates

Boy, I think he should watch more comedies

Alas, now our journey has come to an end

Hopefully I will get to see you ‘round the bend

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Terrible deep the horrible snow

A Hedgehog Song

by Doug McLeod

 

 

Terrible deep the snow is

Deeper than ever we saw

Nestled together we pray for warm weather,

Waiting for winter to thaw.

Were I a swallow I’d happily follow

All of my friends as they fly

Off in formations to southern locations

Delightfully sunny and dry.

 

Here in the forest it’s twenty below,

Shivery blizzards persistently blow

Making you freeze from your top to your toe.

Terrible deep, the horrible snow

 

Terrible deep the snow is,

Wish I could sleep like a log.

Snoozing and snoring, while possibly boring,

Is better than flurries and fog.

Happily dreaming till sunlight starts gleaming

I wouldn’t wake up till the spring –

I envy them dearly, who hibernate yearly –

For winter’s a terrible thing.

 

Summer is fast but the winter is slow

Icicles form and the rivers won’t flow,

Birds by the million left ages ago

Terrible deep, the horrible snow.

 

Longer and colder the winter nights grow

How we survive it we really don’t know

Nothing to eat but the acorns we stow

Terrible deep, the horrible snow.

 

 

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A very peculiar rabbit

by Loretta Re

 

Listen to my stunning news

I met a rabbit wearing shoes

One was red and one was green

The oddest pair I’d ever seen

One had clips and one had laces–

Tangerine to match his braces

He had a pom-pom on his hat

No other clothes—imagine that!

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KER-PLOP

by Allan Cropper

 

Ker-plop

ker-plop

Will it never stop?

That dripping tap

keeps dripping

dripping

dripping

ker-plop

ker-plop

 

 

plip-plop

plip-plop

I hear every single drop.

That leaking tap

keeps nipping

nipping

nipping at my brain

while water keeps on dripping

dripping

dripping

down the drain

ker-plop

ker-plop

please someone make it stop.

That leaking tap

ker-plop

ker-plop

Is driving me insane.

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Light and shadow

by Jenny Erlanger

 

The sun is low behind us

as we contemplate the view,

a vista to remind us

that we’re part of nature too.

 

We happily surrender

to the grandness of this spot

and know within its splendor

that we’re nothing but a dot.

 

Our shadows, in defiance,

take a more aggressive stand.

A family of giants

makes its mark upon the land.

  • Submitted in response to Words+Pictures #3
  • my kids

LAND 

 

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I am fire

by Marsala Strachan

I am frightening.
I can be made from lightning.
One small spark brought me awake.
I am winding like a big red snake.
I am like a blood red wall.
I am the beast that ate it all.
My flames flickered, I crept.
I snickered and then … I leapt.
I am roaring.
Catching every bird that is soaring.

  • Marsala’s poem received a Special Mention in  the 12th Kathleen Julia Bates Memorial Writing Competition. For full results click here.

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Imagining the Life of an Earwig

by Helen Hagemann

 

Leave a door open long enough

and an earwig will enter. The kitchen

is the most popular to travel in.

Among insects a decision is made

(those of different species)

not to touch or pass by in the hallway.

An ant and earwig might come together

and part, safe in the knowledge

that when one leaves another arrives.

It’s the past meeting the future

simultaneously.

Whichever direction an earwig goes,

it will be one fast step

from the swish of a dog’s tail,

or the pounce of a cat’s paw.

Outdoors, earwigs forage in drains, leaf litter.

They love the chemistry of winter air,

the heavy crash of rain, a blue sky when it stops.

Sometimes you find an earwig sleeping between

the sheets of the morning newspaper,

although a quick flap or roll

over discarded scraps

can be fatal.

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Bath time

by Sophie Masson

 

Soap-fish, soap-fish, slipping through my fingers,

Soap-dish, soap-dish, sailing like a boat.

Toothbrush, toothbrush, turning into long-ship,

Hairbrush, hairbrush, learning how to float.

Look! One hand’s a submarine,

The other a breaching whale,

My toes are pointed coral rocks,

There’s the splash of a dolphin’s tail!

My bath’s become an ocean,

And I’m the sailor bold

Who roams the wild blue yonder–

Until the water gets cold!