Category Archives: Poem of the Day

Captain R Jaken’s Ship by Andrew Plant

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Captain R Jaken owned a ship 
Named the Spick-n-Speck 
Cleaner than clean he would tell one and all 
“Argh you can eat lunch of t’ deck’ 
And that’s exactly what they did 
The Captain and the crew 
Ate all their meals off the deck 
Which meant – no washing up to do. 

Captain R Jaken often said 
“Argh clean ship sails t’ quickest” 
So come storm or calm he always made sure 
His was the speck and spickest 
Thus every day the crew would clean 
The ship from top to tail 
Dust, polish, vacuum, mop 
And even iron the sails. 

Captain R Jaken had a first-mate 
The crew all called him Splosh 
Who day after day and week after week 
Simply refused to wash 
After a while Splosh really stank 
So the Captain shouted an order 
“Take him and make him walk the plank 
Into a barrel of hot soapy water!!” 

Captain R Jaken recalls with a shiver 
The terrible day of Tyrone 
Storming through harbour and on to the ship 
With the whirl and the swirl of cylcone 
Dashing and splashing, tipping and flipping 
Dumping seaweed, sand and bog 
The crew mopped and swabbed but no matter what 
They could not control this dog. 

Captain R Jaken loved how sun 
Made Spick–n-Speck shine-n-shimmer 
And more than the gold and jewels of his dreams  
How the moon made it glisten-n-glimmer 
This sparkle-n-glow had so won his heart 
Spick-n-Speck never left dock 
And to ensure the ship would stay clean 
It was moored with big a chain-n-lock. 

Image from Pixabay

Legs In The Air (Anaphora) by Jeanie Axton

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What have you been eating Brock?
That is causing quite a stink
Was it green and red
Or yellow, brown and pink?

What have you been eating Brock?
The smell is really bad
Was it a piece of carrot cake
You stole from snoring Dad?

What have you been eating Brock?
The whole house it does reek
Was it from the garbage bin
That’s been sitting there all week?

What have you been eating Brock?
Your gastric juices churning
One whiff and we will leave the room
Today, not be returning.

Brock, your plan is very clever
As you work your inner gut
To get your favourite seat at home
You whistle out your butt!

Image from Pixabay

Spring has Sprung by Jeanie Axton

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Put the devices away I say

a new season has begun

It’s time to shake off winter

and have some springtime fun

Go out and smell the flowers

see the butterflies appear

landing, drinking nectar

while fluttering quite near

Take the dog for a walk

play with the cat on the grass

head to the local park to play

be pleased that winter’s past

Watch for buzzing bees as well

but please I say ‘No fights’

these fuzzy golden insects

have quite a nasty bite

Put the devices away I say

a new season has begun

It’s time to shake off winter

and have some springtime fun

Image from Pixabay

Bobby the Bilby by Linda Davidson

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Bobby the Bilby is cute as can be.
He’s very shy and hides from me.
With long ears and a pointy nose
He builds his burrow with clawed toes.

I want to pat his soft grey fur.
Down a burrow he dashes in a blur.
Should I wait in the pale moonlight,
or come back again tomorrow night?

National Bilby Day is the 13th September 2026

Image from Save the Bilby fund

https://savethebilbyfund.org.au/

Big Bird Emu by Celia Berrell

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Big Bird Emu
cannot fly.
Got long legs
and big brown eyes;
slender neck
and smiley beak;
stringy feathers,
mega feet.

Big Bird Emu
sits on nest.
Eight whole weeks,
no food no rest;
nearly faint
from heat and thirst;
wants those chicks
to hatch out first.

Shading babies,
outstretched wings,
eating grass
and insect things.
Eighteen months
‘til they’re full-grown,
big enough,
safe on their own.

Big Bird Emu
dedicated.
Caring love
for little babies.
Get too close
might make him mad,
‘cos he’s their
Big Bird Emu DAD!

Today is Father’s Day

Image from Pixabay

Kids & Pets Playtime  by Celia Berrell

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Sometimes the simplest
things are the best.
The magic of play
among kids and their pets

comes from the time
they spend with each other,
rather than whether
a toy lasts forever.

As children grow up,
they go through phases.
Peek-a-boo games
don’t last for ages.

But sticks and balls
always win the day
whenever it’s
doggy-time for play!

Artwork: FRIENDS by Karen Erasmus

Mallee Revival by Celia Berrell

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Some eucalypts on desert scrub
politely share the skies,
creating lairs of dappled shade
where spinifex resides.

These mallee trees, like brollies
with their flattened canopies,
have many splaying slender trunks
at varying degrees.

Their knobbly base, a lignotuber,
helps them to survive,
should bushfire kill above the ground,
that mallee’s still alive.

Stored inside its bulbous base,
emergency supplies!
Water, food will grow new stems.
Our mallee tree revives.

Celebrating Science Week and Poetry Month 2026

Image from Pexels

H2O by Andrea Lew & Science Week

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There are plenty of free events currently happening for SCIENCE WEEK, and combining SCIENCE with POETRY is one of them! H2O by Andrea Lew is one of the Science Rhymes featured in OUR FLORA-VERSE as part of these celebrations.

Did you know that
H2O
is the chemical symbol for water?

Hydrogen, Hydrogen Oxygen.
Drink several glasses every day
to keep the doctor away.

Did you know that
H2O
is good for health and hydration?
It regulates body temperature
and is part of respiration.

Did you know that
H2O
exists as liquid, solid and gas?
On Earth we have all three.
Elsewhere it’s mostly found as ice.

Vital for health and hydration,
this refreshing liquid drink,
for humans, plants and animals 
deserves our celebration!

Artwork by Andrea Lew