Oh boy, what a day,
I’m ready for a doze.
I’m full of yummy gum leaves
from my ears to my toes.
A little snooze would be nice,
It’s what koalas do.
So please don’t wake me up
Until half past two.
Category Archives: Australian children’s poetry
Man, It’s Hot! by Norah Colvin
Leave a commentThey stood side by side in a paddock one day,
Two tall gentlemen watching children at play.
When seen from a distance they both looked the same,
Just silently watching, not joining the game.
The sun warmed them gradually, ever so slow,
The heat barely noticed till both had to go.
“It’s hot!” said the first as he left for the day.
The second said nothing, just melted away.
When later the children came looking around,
Not even one trace of the men could be found.
With sadness they realised what they had forgot:
That snowmen can’t last when the weather gets hot!
Who? by Graham Seal
Leave a commentNow UFOs are UAPs,
can someone please explain
who was it who decided
UFOs must be renamed?
Of course, I do not have a clue
who might have been that author,
but I have a question for them:
what’s wrong with ‘flying saucer’?
Note: Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, are now officially known as Unidentified Aerial (or Anomalous) Phenomena, or UAPs.
Silly Sculpture by James Aitchison
Leave a commentHe’s holding up the building,
With only his left hand.
But both his legs are missing —
I don’t understand!
What a silly sculpture,
It made me want to laugh;
How can you hold up a building
When you’ve been cut in half?
decorating its buildings.
A Chant For The Matildas by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentLather 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
Football Bravo by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentIt 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.
Science Questions Everything by Norah Colvin
Leave a commentAn 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
Message from Mr. Ostrich by James Aitchison
Leave a comment“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.
A Bird Unique by Margaret Pearce
Leave a commentHoo 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.
We Are The Champions by Dannielle Viera
Leave a commentSome 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!
Australian Children’s Poetry 