Author Archives: australianchildrenspoetry

Blown Away by Nadine Cranenburgh

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Blown Away

 

I’ll tell you where I’ve been

I don’t think you’ll believe it

It started with a leaf

And me running to retrieve it

 

It fluttered through the rain

And over lots of puddles

So when I caught it up

I was soaked and in a muddle

 

It settled down at last

Upon a rotten jetty

I reached for it with hands

That were colder than a Yeti’s

 

That leaf was almost mine

I stretched out with a sigh

But then it blew away

To a dingy tied nearby

 

A sudden gale-force gust

Sent us sailing through the ocean

I clung on like a limpet

Feeling seasick from the motion

 

The wind dropped, I was lost

With no clue of north or south

Right then the leaf bobbed gently

Through a great whale’s gaping mouth

 

Surprisingly I followed

What else was there to do?

But leaves give whales an itchy throat

So skywards we both flew

 

I splashed into the sea

And heard a rotor spinning

A helicopter scooped

Another ride beginning!

 

I madly treaded water

Determined not to drown

We flew above a fire

And the helo tipped us down

 

I landed fairly softly

Upon a smoky shore

Close by the burned-out jetty

Where the dingy was before

 

A seagull grabbed the leaf

Flapped through the ashes squawking

My leaf was gone for good

So back home I started walking

 

That’s why I’m late for tea

It’s true, just like I said

What’s this, a leafy salad?

I might just go to bed.

Nadine Cranenburgh

Pirate Plight by Jenny Erlanger

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Pirate plight

 

Though pirates get by

with a patch on one eye

their lives out at sea can be grim.

No wonder they’re mean,

all the pirates I’ve seen

have clearly been missing a limb.

I now understand

all those hooks for a hand,

the clumping around on a peg.

To fit out their ships

for those plundering trips

must cost them an arm and a leg!

 

 

 

Jenny Erlanger 

Bookworld by Teena Raffa-Mulligan

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Bookworld

 

Tell me a tale of treasure untold,

buccaneers’ bounty, jewels and gold.

Spin me a yarn of a hazardous quest,

until it is ended the hero won’t rest.

 

Share stories of dragon, damsel and knight,

princesses rescued from a grave plight;

of monsters, aliens, mystery and magic,

adventurous, exciting, funny or tragic.

 

Whisk me to markets jostled by crowds.

Trek me up mountains shrouded in clouds.

Spin me through space at heart-stopping speed.

Chase me through tunnels –where do they lead?

 

Sail me across oceans so vast and deep,

I cannot help wonder what secrets they keep.

Lead me to forests where birds nest on high –

Wind through the trees is a whispering sigh.

 

Such silence and splendour fills me with awe,

inspires me to whisper, please show me more

of far distant places where I’ve not yet been.

Draw open the curtains upon the next scene.

 

As I travel abroad without leaving home,

I’m scientist, pirate, astronaut, gnome,

crook, cop or detective solving a crime,

anyone, anywhere, freefalling in time.

 

Thrill me, delight me, chill me, excite me,

amaze me, intrigue me, above all invite me

to enter a world where anything goes,

created for me in wonderful prose.

 

Words are my passport, ideas the key

To unlock my fancy and let it roam free.

I turn the first page to open the door

into magical Bookworld, its realms to explore.

Teena Raffa-Mulligan

* This poem appears in Charms, Volume Three, edited by Sally Odgers. Charms is a collection of stories, poems and illustrations by a range of contributors. It is also a fantasy novel in three volumes. For more information about this and other Prints Charming projects visit www.printscharmingbooks.com

A Shelter by Neridah McMullin

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A Shelter

 

I put off going to bed,

The cloud cover,

Keeps the heat in…

And the stillness

Is oppressive.

 

Robins, wrens, honey eaters,

Panted the day away,

In shaded canopy,

Their beaks open.

Too hot to complain.

 

I open up the house,

All the doors; windows.

Something might wander in…

But hopefully,

It will wander out.

 

Thrown wide,

It’s no longer a house.

It’s a shelter,

A secret place.

A bed in the forest.

 

Under the sheets,

I listen to the night’s music.

Muted waves break,

Crickets click, ruffled feathers soften.

And at last, the birds are asleep.

Neridah McMullin

A Booger in My Hanky by Allan Cropper

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 A BOOGER IN MY HANKY

 

There’s a booger in my hanky, it’s been there for half an hour

It is fresh and it is green, but it tastes a little sour

I will hide it in my sock drawer if I ever take a shower

I wonder if my mother’s gonna mind

 

There’s a booger in my hanky and it’s been there all the day

It is icky and it’s sticky and it’s looking pretty grey

I think I’ll try to train it, and teach it how to stay

I wonder if my mother’s gonna mind

 

There’s a booger in my hanky and it’s been in there all week

It is probably worth a lot ’cause it’s almost an antique

If you really want to see it I can give you a quick peak

I wonder if my mother’s gonna mind

 

There’s a booger in my hanky, now it’s been in there a year

It’s as solid as a rock and it’s looking pretty clear

That the booger is a goner, but don’t you shed a tear

There’s plenty of other boogers I can find

I wonder if my mother’s gonna mind?

 

 

Allan Cropper 

Moving Marvel

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Moving Marvel

 

I can

Banana bend

Licorice twist

Jelly wibble wobble.

 

See me

Caterpillar creep

Snake slither

Deer dash and dart.

 

I am

Rock steady

Tree tall

River rush and flow.

 

Love this

Body mine

Body strong

This moving marvel.

Teena Raffa-Mulligan

* First published in School Magazine.

Green Winter by Nadine Cranenburgh

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Green winter

 

In winter my feet get quite chilly

So I wear umpteen socks, I’m not silly

When the gas bills come in

They all go in the bin

And I burn them to boil up my billy.

Nadine Cranenburgh

Feeling Weird by Allan Cropper

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Feeling Weird

Have you woken up to find
you don’t know how you feel?
That’s how I felt when I woke up today.
I tried to find a word that would
express the way I felt
but there were not the words that would convey
the feelings I was feeling, for
it all felt so surreal,
a feeling like no other I have known.
I cannot find the words to tell you
how it is I felt.
I’ll have to make up new words of my own.

I felt flagisticatious,
all wimbillical inside.
Indubicartly grobble-poxed, was I.
Befuddulant and jingle-jacked,
quite micro-ballical,
which can’t have been too pleasing to the eye.
I felt so astro-numical,
anthortical in fact,
in a very catostrismic kind of way.
And that, my friend, just sums it up –
exactly how I felt –
the way I felt when I awoke today.

Allan Cropper

The Offering by Jenny Erlanger

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The Offering

Today she brought a lizard’s tail

and dropped it at my feet.

and yesterday a mangled snail

was offered as a treat.

 

A present helps me when I’m flat.

It gives me such a lift

but not when it’s the family cat

delivering the gift.

 

Jenny Erlanger 

Poetry Pointers

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To rhyme or not to rhyme?

Where do you get ideas? How do you write a poem? Do poems have to rhyme? What makes it a poem if it doesn’t rhyme? Who publishes poetry? How do I become a children’s poet? What is your top tip for writers who want to write poetry for children?

These are among the myriad questions asked by writers who want to write poetry. How would you answer them? If you have a poetry pointer to share, email me at traffa-m(at)bigpond.net.au