After 60 years of drawing
his nose was all but blunt
So our famous Mr Squiggle
went on a sharpener hunt
He took his rocket to the moon
with Blackboard and Miss Jane
They found a big red sharpener
and his pencils sharp again
Category Archives: Australian children’s poetry
Why We Have Two Ears by James Aitchison
Leave a commentHave you ever wondered
why we have two ears —
they’re very nice,
one on each side —
but why do we have
only one mouth?
I asked a man called
Epictetus who said:
“We have two ears
so we can listen
twice as much as
we speak.”
Now, I wonder what he meant by that?
Teacher’s note: Epictetus was one of the great Stoic philosophers. This quote could stimulate a class discussion.
Photo from Pexels by Yan Krukau
Horses Are Heavy by James Aitchison
Leave a commentGiggy Gilbert had a horse,
he didn’t have a cart.
He had to blow a whistle
before the horse would start.
The horse was deaf and couldn’t hear,
So Giggy, in despair,
Picked it up in both hands
And carried it everywhere.
I See A Ball by Marcus Ten Lowe
Leave a commenti see a ball,
and i hear scurrying, nearby.
and then a trundling
thing, in the tall grass, who’s smiling at me,
and then the thing
pushing the ball from motionless.
i see, now, the feet
of the thing, pushing the ball,
edging it, moving it
quicker and quicker,
through the grass,
spinning, loping, disappearing…
Jasper’s Gory Story by James Aitchison
Leave a commentPoor Jasper McGore,
by a creek for a while,
fell asleep, didn’t see
the huge crocodile.
Those mighty jaws
opened big and wide,
swallowed him whole,
but Jasper inside
tickled its tongue,
made it open one jaw,
and out climbed one half
of Jasper McGore.
Photo by Sebastien Varin on Unsplash
The Poor Poem by James Aitchison
Leave a commentI wanted to write a poem about Sunday,
simply because it rhymed with Monday.
But then it was Tuesday,
I struggled all day,
and all Wednesday I waited
with breath abated,
and decided that Thursday
would be my verse day!
But no words came to mind,
I got really behind,
now it’s Sunday again
and I’ve lost my pen…
Teacher’s note: “To wait with bated breath” is a very common phrase. Bated is short for “abated”. It is never spelled “abaited”, because bait refers to hunting and trapping.
Who Are You by James Aitchison
Leave a commentHello, puppy, what’s your name?
Where did they find you?
Have you come to live at my place,
or are you passing through?
I got here first, I make the rules,
so set them in your head:
never ever eat my food,
and don’t sleep in my bed!
The Happy Haberdasher by James Aitchison
Leave a commentWhat’s a haberdasher?
Is it someone who runs fast?
No, it’s not, so let me tell you
about this shop that you walk past.
A haberdasher runs a shop
that sells haberdashery.
Things for sewing, things you won’t see
in a salmon hatchery.
Needles, threads, wool and yarn,
material by the metre —
that’s the stuff that Mum will buy
when haberdashers greet her.
Teacher’s note: In America, haberdashers sell men’s clothing!
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Dogs Love Socks by Jeanie Axton
Leave a commentFake 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 . . . ? by Marcus Ten Low
Leave a commentCould 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.
Australian Children’s Poetry 