Lather and blather
Let the crowds gather
Mad hurly-burly
Get some goals early
Quavery-ravery
Mark the ball savery
Fantastic-electric
Pass-the-ball hectic
Whip the ball in
For another big win
Hackle and tackle
Join in the crackle
Hats off to players
Stars and best-dayers
Glory and roary
Keep-the-ball story
By Dracula’s dinners
O let them be winners
It was called ‘a game made in heaven’ –
boots, balls, flags, bands and painted faces,
a game that grew like history ‒ the wonder game,
the glory of it . . .
There were star-names like Stanley Matthews and Alex James
from days when footballers earned a few pounds a week
and wore knee-length shorts.
There were others like Pele,
Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Best – heroes of the game
with talents galore. Some played in World Cups,
some didn’t, but they played the ‘beautiful game’
and loved it.
Finally, girls started playing football:
they had their World Cup too.
An infinity of questions
To ignite imaginations
To wonder
How and what and why
And where it all began
First observations
Then explorations
Sought answers
To these central questions
Posed by curiosity
Behold –
A single singularity
Big bang!
That’s where it all began
From one united infinity
Now diverse plurality
A myriad variety
Evolving
Throughout history
A complicated tapestry
Including all
The large and small
Everything and
You and me
Questing for elucidation
Clearing any obfuscation
Defying myths
And superstition
Disproving pseudo- explanations
Based on weak interrogation
Of the vast enormity
Of the universe miscellany
Engaging disputation
Sparks
Research investigation
Inspires ingenuity
Seeks understanding, clarity
Until with evidence
Reveals
The mysteries no longer sealed
No longer fraught with
Trepidation due to
Ignorant misperception
For Science and discovery
Unveils what is
For all to see
“It’s wrong! It’s wrong!”
the ostrich said.
“I never, never
bury my head!
If I did
how could I see?
You mustn’t believe
such things about me.”
Teacher’s note: Ostriches do not bury their heads in the sand. When trouble approaches, they lie low and press their long necks to the ground. Mostly, ostriches escape danger by running at up to 72 km/h. The world’s heaviest bird, they are also the world’s largest, fastest flightless bird, capable of killing predators such as lions and humans with a kick.
Hoo hoo hoo, and he haw hay
laughed the Kooka on his way.
After him the Magpies chased
winging past in reckless haste.
What was it that the Kooka heard
to cause the Magpies get so stirred?
An ornithologist rushed to meet
a Magpie walking on two sore feet.
‘I’m scared to fly,’ the Magpie wailed.
‘They laughed at me because I failed.’
He then limped on, a bird unique,
an unhappy agoraphobic freak.
Some called us lost from Earth’s great zoo
Extinct beyond a doubt
But we are here to claim our prize
As champs of hiding out
Men sought us over Lord Howe Isle
(And brought their rats as well)
So we jumped ship and hid upon
A stack that spikes the swell
Beneath a tea-tree clinging to
The stark Balls Pyramid
We waited to be found by folks
Before we flipped our lid
It took some eighty years before
Two scientists arrived
But even then they couldn’t see
Our black butts had survived
That night we nosed out from our nook
To let them know we’d won
The longest game of hide-and-seek
Insects had ever run
And now we’d like our trophy, please
We phasmids are for real
If you do not acknowledge us
We’ll give you stick – so deal!
I didn’t mean to
pretend to be dead
while staying in bed.
I didn’t mean to
very loudly shout
“I’m not coming out!”
I didn’t mean to
leave my room in mess
causing you distress.
I didn’t mean to
try your new boots.
That style really suits.
I didn’t mean to
to create a scene
’cause you acted mean.
I didn’t mean to
refuse my breakfast.
I ate it at last.
I didn’t mean to
run away from you.
Was it a bad view?
I didn’t mean to
be a dreadful pest
but the perfect guest.
I didn’t mean to
always wag school.
Was it so uncool?
I didn’t mean to
play up like a fool
while attending school.
I didn’t mean to
stand under the wheel
my foot might never heal.
I didn’t mean to
buy so many sweets
for my birthday treats.
I didn’t mean to
be obsessed with screen.
I’m so computer keen.
I didn’t mean to
be a cheeky lad.
Always very bad.
I now intend to
be so very good
like you say I should.
A sensible hat is sensible
if worn in a sensible way
by a sensible type of person
at a sensible time of day.
A sensible hat can be silly
ugly, tattered or old
a sensible type of hat
is just that, sensible “so I’m told!”
First, un-pleat some solar cells
and wag that space antenna tail
to give our telescope some power
for data-sending mail.
Open sides, like two long arms,
then stretch-out layers of silver veils
to make a heat-shield from the Sun.
Too hot, our Webb could fail.
Next, erect the smaller mirror
then a radiator,
before reflective parts hinge wide.
That giant mirror’s locked, both sides,
to make a golden-petal flower
with infra-red its viewing power,
to be an ancient star-locator.
Deepest history translator!
Inspired by animation of deployment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzGLKQ7_KZQ
Hey, hey, the goose got away,
down the street
on its two webbed feet!
“Honk, honk! Out of my way
I want to do my shopping today!”
(Teacher’s note: Apart from flock, what other collective nouns apply to geese? It all depends where they are. Geese on the ground are a gaggle, or if they are flying, a skein, a trip or a team. If flying in formation, they’re a wedge. Geese flying close together are a plump. Some other choices: a chevron, a nide, a lag, a sord, and the poet’s favourite, a christmas of geese!)
Australian Children’s Poetry 