There have already been some wonderful celebrations in June like National Reconciliation Week, Mabo Day, Italian National Day, World Environment Day and coming up is the Winter Solstice on June 21.
So if you’ve celebrated one of these special days or have something of your own that you are celebrating this month, send in your poem to ozchildrenspoetry@gmail.com
YOUR POEM could be published on the Science Rhymes Blog for NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK 2024.
This year, we’re creating a POETRY ZOO. Search “National Science Week Poetry Zoo” or access the PDF called LOVING LIVING THINGS on the Science Rhymes / National Science Week page to help with some ideas.
Please submit by Monday 29th July via email to: feedback@sciencerhymes.com.au.
We prefer poems of 1 to 5 verses that rhyme. Children are especially encouraged to participate: just make sure you correspond via an adult’s email address so we can reply. Poems authored by children will be acknowledged by first name with School name, Town and State where supplied (no surname).
Anyone using AI to create poems: please acknowledge ChatGPT or AI equivalent as co-author of your submission.
Thank you to ACP poets and readers for participating and sharing this invitation!
Fake food socks
we love to wear
but our doggy friends
think it’s not fair
The pizza socks
smell like fluff
The bacon socks
are really rough
The taco socks
dripping fake cheese
The hamburger socks
are another tease
The hot dog socks
look so yummy
The cupcake socks
the icings runny
But worst of all
and looking real
are the T Bone socks
that cause a drool
The dogs agree
this has to stop
let’s give food socks
A mighty chop
Could the sky flip upside-down?,
I sit up thinking, with a frown.
Could the sky do magic cartwheels,
Turning, as each small star reveals?
Could it crumple into nothing,
And leave us just the clouds, a-puffing?
Could it burn-up in the sun,
And would it harm us, every one?
Could the sky’s face start to weep,
And keep us falling into sleep,
And could the seas that roar and roar
This opalescent sky ignore?
It’s all a strange, strange universe,
That seems to do things in reverse!
This verse will only show the sky
As naked…to the naked eye.
Hey, Mr Sunshine,
where are you today?
Rain is falling heavily,
the sky is dark and grey.
All the kids are stuck inside
with nowhere to play.
Hey, Mr Sunshine,
please come back one day.
Hey, Mr Sunshine,
welcome back today.
The sky is blue and clear and bright,
the rain has gone away.
Now the kids can run outside
to laugh and sing and play.
Thanks, Mr Sunshine,
sure beats yesterday!
I can’t go out to play today,
it’s raining very hard.
And it rained the day before as well
and flooded my backyard.
My shoes are wet,
my socks are soaked,
my boots are green with mould —
I wonder how much water
this world of ours can hold?
Photo by Pixabay
Winter is upon us
It gets colder every day
I need a jacket on
To keep the cold away.
My warm pyjamas and
An extra blanket on the bed
A flannel pillow slip
Where I will rest my head.
Shorts become trousers
Thongs are put away
Tee shirts turn to jumpers
To keep the cold at bay.
Milk becomes hot chocolate
Salads become roast
And cereal is replaced
With honey on hot toast.
Trees are shedding leaves
In hibernation mode
Preparing for the winter
When growth is slowed.
Yes, winter is upon us
But is followed by the Spring
Warmth again is promised
A seasonal offering.
Photo from Pexels by Peter Frese
We’re on the train to Paris
and we’re going really fast!
I can see the needle climb,
as the scenery flashes past.
The ride is very smooth;
not a rattle, bump or shake.
It’s like the magic carpet
that Aladdin used to take.
We’ve almost reached three hundred
kilometres an hour;
there’s no train in Australia
that has this kind of power.
Teacher’s note: The distance from Bordeaux to Paris is around 500 kilometres. The fast train, leaving Bordeaux at 5.04 pm, arrives in Paris at 7.08 pm.
Where liquid water meets the air
it has a surface tension.
An outer layer of molecules
that all have strong attraction.
Water droplets round in shape
like beads will often form,
hanging on a cobweb’s threads
like jewels in the dawn.
And on a pond small insects simply
walk along its top.
Their tiny feet don’t break that layer.
Along the top they hop.
A raindrop on a window-pane
will slide towards the ground
as water is a fluid that
can easily move round.
It leaves behind a trailing tail
as it goes trickling past
because that surface tension makes
it stick upon the glass.
I like to pick out two big drops
and guess their moving pace
to see which one will trickle first
and win the window race.
Poem from The Science Rhymes Book. Illustration by Amy Sheehan
I woke up to a sound
Beating in my head
An imaginary tune
Which trumpets led.
I did not recognise
What vibrated in my ear
But moved instinctively
In pleasure it was clear.
A mist came over me
Like I was in a dream
Music became louder
Or so it seemed.
Guitars took the stage
A melody subdued
In this euphoria
I felt totally attuned.
The beat continued on
I embraced the melody
It took me to a special place
One that I could only see.
Photo from Pexels by Tim Mossholder
Australian Children’s Poetry 