Category Archives: Poem of the Day

I’d Rather Be a Birtle Than a Turd

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I’d rather be a Birtle than a Turd!

 

With four furry feathered flippers and a sharp and pointy beak

I’m a mixture of a turtle and a bird

I’ve a shell so sleek and shiny and some talons on my feet

But I’d rather be a Birtle than a Turd!

 

With some prickly tickly whiskers and a web to call my own

I’m a mixture of a spider and a shrew

I’ve a soft and furry tummy and eight legs without a bone

But I’d rather be a Shrider than a Spew!

 

With the body of a rodent and a long and slimy tail

I’m a mixture of a Gerbil and a worm

I’ve a squirmy wormy belly and my ears are very pale

But I’d rather be a Worbil than a Germ!

 

With a really bendy body and a home beside the shore

I’m a mixture of a starfish and a mink

I’ve a coat so soft and glossy and five legs that I adore

But I’d rather be a Marfish than a Stink!

 

With two long and fine antenna and a wavy wagging tail

I’m a mixture of a Beetle and a Mutt

I’ve a mouth of sloppy slobber and six legs that never fail

But I’d rather be a Meetle than a Butt!

 

With a round and spikey body and a long and bristly beard

I’m a mixture of a blowfish and a goat

I have skin like slimy rubber and a temper to be feared

But I’d rather be a glowfish than a bloat!

 

With two sharp and pointy pincers and some gorgeous golden down

I’m a mixture of a Yabbie and a duck

I have eyeballs on my feelers and fine feathers on my crown

But I’d rather be a Dabbie than a Yuck!

 

With a scaly silver tailfin and a noisy croaking song

I’m a mixture of a snapper and a frog

I’ve a sharp and toothy grimace and my legs are long and strong

But I’d rather be a Frapper than a Snog!

 

With some snipping snapping fingers and a soft and furry coat

I’m a mixture of a lobster and a mouse

I’ve a love of cheesy cheddar and I live beneath a boat

But I’d rather be a Mobster than a Louse!

 

With a tail so curly wurly and with furry golden fluff

I’m a mixture of a seahorse and a chick

I’m a cheeky chirpy cheeper who is into horsey stuff

But I’d rather be a Cheahorse than a Sick!

 

When it comes to any creature that is made up on the spot

One you’ve never ever seen or smelt or heard

There are many names to call them that are pretty or are not

Still I’d rather be a Birtle than a Turd!

David Rudkin

Buccaneer Banquet by Kate O’Neil

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Buccaneer Banquet

 

The buccaneer bragged to the butcher,

“My Kitchen Rules, for sure,

so gimme those guts for me banquet tonight

and a coupla bears and that boar.

 

I’m goin’ all out on the barbie,

with bacon and bangers to boot,

served up with a broccoli garnish,

and for afters, a basin of fruit.

 

A good balanced bash for me hearties,

from Yours Truly, the Buccaneer Host,

and if they wake up in the morning,

they can get their own coffee and toast.

Kate O’Neil

Squirrel Sightings by Monty Edwards

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 Squirrel Sightings

 

Have you ever seen a squirrel? You may think them rather cute,

But they’re certainly not stupid, for they’re really quite astute.

They take notice of the weather when the winter’s on its way

And store all the food that’s needed for each coming frosty day.

For that is when they snuggle in the hollow of a tree,

Or they hide among the bushes where they’re difficult to see.

 

Every squirrel’s quite a builder when it wants to make a nest

So that as things get much colder there’s a place for warmth and rest.

If you should see a squirrel when you’re at the park to play,

Don’t be too disappointed if the squirrel darts away.

Watch him hurry, scamper, scurry, for you’ll seldom see him walk.

Perhaps he’s just too busy to take time to stop and talk.

 

Monty Edwards

Monty says: I enjoy writing poetry for the opportunity it gives to inspire, challenge or entertain people I may never meet personally. I also enjoy attempting to conquer such constraints as form, meter and rhyme by my choice and arrangement of words in order to produce my own unique response to a theme or prompt. For me it is like tackling a complex puzzle for which there may be many possible solutions, but few that are completely satisfying as an offering to potential readers.

 

Beach Treasure by Kristin Martin

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Beach Treasure

We went for a walk,
just Nan, Pop and me,
and found lots of treasure
washed up by the sea.

Nan found a rock crab
alone on the sand.
It tickled and wriggled
around in my hand.

I found a treasure
beneath the sea grass;
a smooth-as-silk
wave-polished piece of green glass.

But Pop said his treasure
was the best you would see:
he crawled under the jetty
and there he found me!

Kristin Martin

Bubbles by Vanessa Proctor

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Bubbles

 

We blow them in streams

across the yard,

some small and marble-sized,

others as big as baseballs.

Every bubble iridescent,

a perfect world of its own,

mirroring grass, sky,

occasionally our faces.

Bubbles glinting with sunlight

swirl skyward or

float to the ground.

Each one

a little miracle

before it pops.

Vanessa Proctor
  • Published in The School Magazine, Orbit, August 2015

 

Wattle Blooming by Sophie Masson

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Wattle Blooming

Sudden bursts of gold,

Sweeping colour bold,

By rivers, by roads, in country and town,

In farms and gardens, the wattle’s the crown.

 

Of the end of the winter, beginning of spring,

The blooming of wattle will sing and sing

Of birds in their nests and the warm days to hand,

For the wattle is blooming across the land.

Sophie Masson

Balancing Broccoli in a Basin by Alix Phelan

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Balancing broccoli in a basin 

Bought by a beneficent buccaneer

bunches of broccoli

bound through the air

into a basin of boiling water.

 

They balanced the content of Vitamin B

in the body of the buccaneer’s

burgeoning daughter.

Alix Phelan ©, 2016

Alix Said:  I thought this was a bit of a challenge. At first look, the four “b” words had nothing in common.  I decided to look up what vitamins are associated with broccoli and discovered that Vitamin B was one. Very convenient. Apart from being convenient with regard to the poem, as far as I understand, Vitamin B helps nerve cells and DNA to grow, and so, it was quite appropriate to use with “burgeoning daughter”.

 

Death on the High Seas by Nadine Craneburgh

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Death on the High Seas

Dastardly –

that’s me. Buccaneer

from my head

to peg leg

Cutlass poised, victim green with

fear of what will come

Time balanced

on a honed knife edge

descending

like rain to

a basin. Your end is nigh

broccoli, hold still

Nadine Cranenburgh

Buccaneer Tucker by Pat Simmons

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Buccaneer Tucker

A basin of broccoli served up for tea

Is not what a young buccaneer wants to see.

His diet should be balanced when pillaging ships,

But he’d much prefer ice cream and lots of hot chips.

Pat Simmons

High Tea by Monty Edwards

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High Tea

 

When pelicans are flying low,

With open beaks they say “Hello”

To any fish they gladly see

That could provide a tasty tea,

For like a furry flippered seal,

They do enjoy a fishy meal.

 

So after taking time to greet,

These hungry birds prepare to eat,

(While under beaks, there hangs a store

For extra, should they want some more).

Then up they rise to sail the sky:

Their beaks too full to say “Goodbye”!

 

Monty Edwards

Monty says: I wanted to get both greetings and goodbyes into a single poem, but the result promised to be rather long. I tried using a short telephone call for content, but wasn’t satisfied with the outcome, so contrived a brief encounter of familiar creatures at the seaside.