Butterfly
Soft as a dew drop
It lands
Dancing lightly
Upon pansy and petunia
Coloured wings flash and flutter
Delicate in the sunlight
Still for a moment
Then off again
Flitting from flower to flower
Sipping sweet nectar
Heralding Spring
Butterfly!
Category Archives: Australian children’s poetry
“Haystack” by June Perkins
Leave a commentHaystack
Look! Rats and the children run out from
their hiding places in the haystack to
dance in front of us in a merry line?
Who else do you think hides here?
Do you have a memory of haystacks or
artist’s haystacks?
(Perceval’s Angel)
Tumble down the Haystack
dreaming columns of Greece.
Tumble down the Haystack
with childhood farming friends.
Tumble down the Haystack
to horses and the cows.
Now,
climb up that artist’s Haystack
and tumble down again.
June Perkins
“Impropagation” by Celia Berrell
Leave a commentImpropagation
A crack in the concrete is all it takes
for a small seed to lodge and germinate.
Its roots exude acid dissolving cement.
And so it has grown where it wasn’t meant.
Ignored by pedestrians tramping through
with sunlight and water it proudly grew.
And look at it now. Majestic and high.
Being kissed and blessed by a butterfly!
Inspired by the Artwork Living Freedomby Sharon Davson www.davsonarts.com
BUTTERFLY MOTHER by Dianne Bates
Leave a commentBUTTERFLY MOTHER
Dancing the tune of the breeze
She lifts her coat sleeves –
And freezes as if in prayer
To breed in the shady leaves;
Green confetti in air.
On the rib-case underneath –
A waxy seam of leaf,
Tiny eggs, colour of cream
Are stuck with butterfly paste.
Blue lady lifts as a dream,
Leaving them, to hatch or waste.
Who knows where she goes
Blue butterfly mother?
© Dianne Bates
“Food Art” by Jenny Erlanger
Leave a commentFood art
This mashed potato sculpture
is a splendid work of art,
the best I’ve ever seen, I’d have to say
and every slice of carrot,
carved to look just like a heart,
you’ve set out in a most creative way.
The broccoli looks pretty
cut in perfect little flowers.
I love the way the peas spell out my name
and I know that you’ve been working
on this masterpiece for hours,
but I’m sorry, every night I feel the same.
It doesn’t really matter
what you do to all this food,
what handiwork you serve me up for tea.
I may seem quite ungrateful
and perhaps a little rude,
but, they still all taste like vegetables to me!
Jenny Erlanger
“Sweet Dreams” by Louise McCarthy
Leave a commentSweet Dreams
Starry night, a quarter moon.
Owls and frogs recite a tune.
Listen, listen…
What do they say?
Sweet dreams, sweet dreams…
Sweet dreams they pray.
By Louise McCarthy
“April Fool” by Virginia Lowe
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April Fool
I’m looking for Spring
as so many do
for blossom and bulbs
shy violets hold dew
What greets me is change
Winds, rain and shine
It’s now Autumn here
but there’s no call to pine
There are strawberry guavas,
feijoas and pears
very few flowers
but no one much cares
We’d rather our garden
is brimming with fruit
There’ll be time in September
For Flora’s fair loot
Virginia Lowe
“Broomfield Park” by Katherine Gallagher
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A moorhen busies herself,
rocks this way and that
on a wave-washed nest.
Swans float in late afternoon chill,
shadows lengthen,
chestnut buds swell.
Forsythia trembles the breeze –
pastel-green willows barely move
dipping branch-tips into the lake.
Every year I wait for this –
first flowers, trees leafing
on sculpted branches,
reflecting in the water
their steadfast
cascades of green.
©Katherine Gallagher
Spring Haiku’s by Virginia Lowe
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From the blue spring sky
hard hail and soft pink petals
falling together
Spring morning –
overnight the wind has picked
the last camellia
Australian Children’s Poetry 