Category Archives: Poem of the Day

“Song of the Wood” by Julie Cahill

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’Ssssshhhhh!’ the trees whispered

and the children froze 

absorbing sounds; standing up on their toes. 

‘Ribbit!’ The sound of a deep voiced frog.

‘What’s that?’ asked a child, hiding under a log.

‘Ribbit!’ said the deep voiced frog again.

‘Get lost’ said the girl in the wooded glen. 

‘Ssssshhhhh!’ said the trees

and the frog cleared his throat. 

‘Ribbit ribbit . . . riiiiiiiiiiiiiibit!’

‘Chchchchchchchchch  ‘ – a cricket tuned. 

‘Riiiiiiiiiiiibit’ the frog sung, renewed.

The wood came alive with wondrous ballett.

‘Chchchchchchchchch’ – the string quatet.

‘Chomp chomp chomp’ went the hungry deer. 

‘Ribbit.’ ‘Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp.’

‘Ribbit’. ‘Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp.’

‘Chchchchchchchchch’ ‘Chomp chomp’

‘Chchchchchchchchch’ ‘Chomp chomp’

And a boar joined in- bold and brave.

‘Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp.’

‘Ribbit!’ ‘Stomp!’ ‘Ribbit!’ ‘Stomp’!’

‘Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp!’

‘SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!’

“Flying Elephants” by J.R Poulter

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“Earthworms” by Elizabeth Cummings

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EARTHWORMS

 

Earthworm, you burrower extraordinaire

How can you stand to live down there

With your one cylindrical digestive tract

You move with the muscles that you contact

To make your body first short then long

And those bristles help propel you along

Through leaf litter, topsoil or deeper down

You help to mix up the stuff in the ground

This makes you the base of many a food chain

Yet your many skills are the environment’s gain

Your talent with organic matter is biological

And mixing tall the nutrients is a flair so chemical

Then there’s your physical ability of aerating

So the soil ecosystem’s restoration you’re helping

Thus let’s take some time to show a bit of gratitude

For how you improve the quality of our food!

 

 

“Worms both disgust and fascinate me! I remember my brother holding a worm in his hands as a toddler and exclaiming; ‘One worm two worms!’ as he pulled it part😱. After that I had nightmares about worms for years until one of my pupils brought a worm farm into the class and taught us all about he important work of the humble earthworm… a teacher can always learn from their students!

 “Meeting the Monster” by Monty Edwards

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 Meeting the Monster

One night a monster most grotesque

Crawled out from underneath my desk!

I closed my book and took a look

And felt that my whole body shook!

It had a head with horrid horns

That looked as sharp as roses’ thorns;

It’s nose was like a length of hose

Which drooped right down to touch its toes!

With eyes the size of fruit mince pies

It gazed at me in mute surprise

And then as it began to think,

I saw those eyes were turning pink,

While when its mouth was open wide,

The teeth were huge I saw inside!

A sound came out: more like a croak;

I cringed in fear, but then it spoke!

It rasped: ‘So sorry I’m so badly smelling:

I’ve come to help you with your spelling!’

But even as the monster spoke,

My dog went ‘Woof!’ and I awoke.

“Ive never been in a limousine” by Pamela Ueckerman

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I’ve never been in a limousine,

But I’ve sat on the back of a horse.  

I’ve pedalled a trike and a two-wheeled bike, 

with a bicycle bell, of course.

 

I’ve travelled by train there and back again 

and sometimes transferred to a tram.

I’ve stood on a bus, such a terrible fuss, 

In a terrible traffic jam.

 

I’ve soared in a plane on a visit to Spain,

Where I paddled a river canoe.

I’ve sailed in a boat and I’ve sat on a float,

And I’ve been in a car or two.

 

I’ve ridden balloons over murky lagoons,

I’ve scooted, I’ve skated, I’ve cruised.

But there is a new word that I recently heard,

And it has me almighty amused.

 

I’m not one to brag or to wave my own flag,

And I’m not in the least particular,

But I’ve heard of this train so will someone explain,

What this thing is they call a funicular?

 

“Once Upon a Time” by J.R. Poulter with Teacher Notes

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Once Upon a Time    by J.R.Poulter

Once upon a long ago

In the distant mists of time

There was a prince who had to make

A poesy all in rhyme.

 

He had to weave a wondrous tale

For his intended bride,

That swept the legends of the land

The myths from far and wide

 

Into one vast saga,

A tome to end all tomes!

He set out to collect the tales,

It took him far from home.

 

The prince crossed many deserts,

He climbed  too many hills,

He walked through sun and snow and sleet.

He suffered many ills!

 

At last, he had his great big book!

At last, he’d wed his bride!

But as he neared the castle,

He heard a mournful sigh…

 

What stood there was a ruin,

Wind moaned through empty halls.

Of all the pomp and pageantry,

Nothing was left at all…

 

Amidst a drape of spider webs

Within the central court,

He found a tomb whose statuary

Had been most marvelous wrought.

 

There was his bride, robed as a queen,

Her king was by her side.

A scroll lay open on her lap

Of fictions, fables, lies…

 

The prince stood still, 

As turned to stone.

The ancient beams

Above him groaned.

 

A crack, a scream,

He was no more.

The Tome of Tales 

Lay on the floor.

 

The wind tore at the pages,

Tossing them far away.

All that was left, the marble tomb

And what it had to say,

 

“Once upon a time…”

[in “Myths & Legends” a Prints Charming Anthology edited by Sally Odgers]

TEACHER NOTES

“Once Upon a Time” is a narrative verse fantasy in loosely rhyming quatrains.

The story is framed around the idea of a ‘trial of love’ whereby a suitor is set a difficult task, which he has to perform in order to win the lady he loves.

Difficult to impossible tasks are seen in other fairy tales. Rumplestiltskin and Cinderella are examples.  Greek legends also contain this sort of plot device  as with the trials of Hercules and the legend of Perseus and Medusa.

Activity: Write a story or draw a wall frieze in sections  about a hero who is set an impossible task  and how he achieves it.

Discussion: It is said a challenge is good for you, it develops your thinking processes and your problem solving skills. True or false? Give reasons.

Activity: List examples of  ‘challenges’ you meet in everyday life.

Discussion: Homework and chores – institutionalized cruelty, child labour are necessary for maturation/character building, learning responsibility  and ‘earning’ our way.

“Ants” by Ron Marsh

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ANTS

I was eating supper very late,

And chanced to look upon my plate,

A little black ant standing there,

Just about to share my fare.

 

I said to him “now listen mate,

I want you quickly off my plate”.

To ants one should not be so bold,

He’s brought back friends a hundred-fold.

“Kookaburra” by Stephanie Boase

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Kookaburra sits

On a clothes line tall,

Carefully surveying

The urban sprawl.

Spying a movement

In the grass,

He swoops down swiftly.

Dinner at last!

Won’t you laugh kookaburra,

Laugh for me?

Your life is so much harder

Than it used to be.

(Photo credit: © CC Richards and Daytripper Sippers, 2014)

“A bite of a laugh” by Alex Phelan

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A bite of a laugh…

 

On the patio last Thursday

l was cleaning the dust away

the chairs hadn’t been wiped for ages

and for this neglect I would pay.

 

My satisfied duster flicked over

each heavily soiled chair 

as cobwebs flew like magic 

through the warm and humid air.

 

A sudden sensation – a tickle –

a panic at ankle height

a tiny black menacing spider 

had had more than its size in fright.

 

It wasn’t too happy about this

in fact it was mighty mad

so with lightning force it bit me

then hid in the nearest plant.

 

Who’d imagine a tiny black spider 

could inflict such searing pain

I fell to the patio tiles

swore

never to dust again.

 

The pain in the ankle grew sharper 

the skin turned light pink and then red

The doc she prescribed penicillin, 

 intoned in a voice that I dread,

“You will need to take fourteen days of it

or you just might end up 

quite dead.”

“Night Stalker” by Julie Cahill

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It seems of late, a cheeky elf has morphed inside of me
At night I lay here wide awake, then sneak away to see
Creatures great and creatures small, some all lithe and inky
Some are kind and others hungry and some are downright stinky
Flitting in between the trees, over hill and dale
Suddenly I’m stationary, morphed into a snail
My Mum will worry when she finds I’m nowhere to be found
‘I’m down here, Mum, in the bushes sliding on the ground.’
But as I crane my neck right out, far out from my shell
My arms fall out, turn to wings and lift me from that hell
I’m soaring now; a butterfly, orange, green and blue and as I land I’m now confronted by a young girl’s shoe
It looks familiar, that it does, pressed against my nose
Good gracious I was dreaming then almost comatose
I must have fallen from my bed, knocked myself unconscious
I twitch each part hoping that every part’s responsive
I hear Mum calling
‘Breakfast time,’ I stand and dust my pride
But don’t you worry, Cheeky Elf is safely tucked inside.