Imagine living here
with all those stairs to climb,
and every room you enter
takes you back in time.
Everywhere you wander,
every corner you explore,
could there be a ghost or two
behind a secret door?
Teacher’s note: Martindale Hall, Mintaro, South Australia, famously appeared in the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock. Completed in 1880 with 32 rooms, and once the home of the Mortlock family, this Georgian mansion is now open to the public six days a week.
I went to Devon
in a dream,
and there I ate
scones, jam and cream.
I put the cream on,
then the jam,
and someone said,
“That’s wrong, young man!
The jam goes first,
the cream is next.”
I was getting
very vexed.
So what do you do?
Which comes first?
The jam? The cream —
or reversed?
What if ‘mince pies’ were your eyes?
‘Barrier reef’ your ‘teef’?
If ‘Onkaparingas’ were your fingers,
or ‘plates of meat’ your feet?
‘Ginger beers’ might be your ears,
a ‘loaf of bread’ your head.
What if your hips were ‘battleships’
and ‘wooden pegs’ your legs?
Well, then all your body parts would rhyme,
though you mightn’t even know it,
and whenever you did anything
you’d be a rhyming poet.
NOTE: rhyming slang is a form of folk word play in which all sorts of things are
given usually whimsical rhymes.
splotch of my feet,
splotch one by one,
two eyes watching,
me and you.
three monkeys laughing
with such glee.
four walls standing,
slamming their doors.
five fingers, like worms,
keeping alive.
six matchsticks,
like a bag of tricks.
seven devils singing,
to make it back to heaven.
eight fat people,
food is so great!
nine lies twisted
in my mind, ready
to explode, like a mine.
ten things listed,
where what when…
Everyone asks me
the same old question,
and it interferes
with my digestion.
How do I look
down in the mud?
The dam’s so cold
I can’t chew my cud.
So if you ask me
how I am now,
I’m a very grubby
hungry cow.
Ran my heart out,
grabbed the ball,
triple bounced it,
took a fall,
couldn’t hold it,
lost control,
marked the next one,
kicked a goal!
In the mountains,
above the snow,
I found a castle
from long ago.
Forbidding walls
rise to the sky;
gloomy forests
meet the eye.
I wonder whom
I’ll meet inside —
which king will be
my ghostly guide?
Teacher’s note: Wartburg (pronounced Vartburg) Castle sits on 410-metrte precipice above the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. Dating from 1067, it is associated with Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, Martin Luther, and a legendary minstrels’ contest.
A game at a campsite.
What do we need?
Five friends and three buckets
and rope for a lead.
Off we go now
galloping down to the bay,
for we are all horses.
Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!
Now look here, Spider, I’m grateful to you,
For eating flies and cockroaches too.
But in my shower when it’s time for my bath –
That, I’m afraid, incurs my wrath.
With this broom, I’ll chase you out.
Please don’t jump or you’ll make me shout.
Stay very still while I get the brush,
Then into the toilet for one big flush.
Oh, poor little spider, what have I done?
I’ve gone and killed you. That’s not fun.
You didn’t deserve it, not one bit.
You should have hidden where my broom couldn’t fit.
Another spider? Does this make two?
Are you a brother? Oh no . . . it’s you!
I thought you drowned, but you’re still alive!
What’s your secret? How’d you survive?
Now you’re back, I am relieved.
No longer must I be aggrieved.
But please take heed, my leggy friend.
Don’t come too close – it will be your end.
Silent silo,
commerce fails,
no more trains,
rusting rails.
Rain and wind
sweep platforms clean,
railway ghosts
go unseen.
Teacher’s note: South Australia’s Burra railway station was a busy stop on the main line to Broken Hill and Perth.Passenger services ceased in December 1986, and the last grain trains operated in 1999. Volunteers have lovingly restored the station buildings.
Australian Children’s Poetry 