After Easter Bunny Left.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Leave your shoes, don’t worry,
Forget your jackets and your hats,
It’s time to go; let’s scurry!
So in the ceiling of the house,
Little mice and Mrs. Mouse,
Just after Easter Bunny left,
Embarked upon their plan of theft.
They scaled down walls – through gaps and cracks;
Avoiding funny, springy traps.
The moon sent light through window panes,
Assisting mice with their campaigns.
And then at last a glint, a gleam,
“We’ve found it, yay!” squeaked one mouse team;
It’s brilliant, bright, it’s so astounding…
Their little hearts were really pounding.
An Easter egg – wrapped in thin tin,
The mice created such a din.
But Mrs. Mouse said “Shh – quiet, hush,
We’ve got to hurry, we have to rush.”
And so with care the mice did toil;
Unwrapped the egg and left the foil;
For children love the foil the best
And mice prefer to eat the rest.
Clues for an egg hunt
Go full throttle straight to the wattle.
Say “Hello, dear!” to the aloe vera.
Don’t ignore the kangaroo paw.
Follow your nose all the way to the hose.
Don’t be a stranger to the hydrangea.
Go and smile at the native violets.
Don’t be in a rush near the bottlebrush.
Do one more pass over the grass.
Gather your eggs by the big gum tree.
Share them out (with some for me).
Catch the Night Star
Before the squabble
downstairs,
Before the goodnight wink
of secret dragons,
Dandelions and pink
The clock turns blue
Then yellow and green.
Rose settles to sleep
With her books and bear
And bubbly dreams tucked away deep
Wrapped in a far away spell
Then, sadness sneaks in through the window
With the wind
In the trees
outside, uninvited.
And the night stars appear
To soften her heart holding the tears?
Beneath the pillow, runaway dreams
Chasing her fears,
The clock turns back to blue
Before the squabble.”
Ready to Rhyme
I find when I am writing,
I oft resort to rhyme.
I don’t know why I do it.
It happens all the time.
But if you like my writing,
(I really hope you will),
You’ll find that I keep writing
In rhyming verses still!
First published in “The Mystery Box” (Playful poems for young readers) by Monty Edwards [Making Magic Happen Academy 2017].
Who’s there… ?
The wind howls.
Tree knuckles rap.
Long fingered twig hands
Tap. Tap. Tap…
Hours slide
Down the walls.
Moonlight pools
Where teardrops fall.
Sheets bind tight,
Having care
No one escapes
Nightmares.
“Who’s outside?
Who’s there…?”
Standing beside you,
A shadowy fear.
Am I sleeping?
Did I wake?
Is this the form
That bad dreams take?
What’s that rustle…?
Pad, pad, pad,
“It’s okay, honey!”
It’s Mum and Dad!
TEACHER NOTES:
This rhyming poem deals with irrationality of some childhood fears, using poetic devices, which include transferred epithet, onomatopoeia, internal rhyme, alliteration and consonance. Other fears can be based on superstitions, or on some historical antecedents or cultural based taboos.
Hilaire Belloc’s cautionary tales use fear tinged with humor to warn against certain behaviors. Grimm’s Fairy Tales have been described as cautionary tales using the horror of the unknown to warn children away from potential danger.
Discussion: Do such ‘cautionary tales’ have that effect today on modern children? Are there modern examples of cautionary tales? Name some.
Activity: Rewrite a poem by Hilaire Belloc as a prose story OR retell a Grimm’s Fairy Tale as a narrative verse story. Use some of the poetic devices used in “Who’s there…?” in your retelling.
2019 THE YEAR OF THE PIG
A lunar year
Puts the earth in the centre
Measures time
As the moon goes round
Different way of thinking
Chinese New Year
2019
The Fifth Day of February.
Chinese Jade Emperor
Organised a race
First to reach the Celestial Palace
Would be first to guard
The Heavenly Gate
Twelve animals had a river to cross.
Rat said to Ox
You do the swimming
I’ll sit on your ear
Just to be sure the way is clear.
Rat cheated.
Won first place
Generous Ox did not mind at all
Tiger and Rabbit tried hard to win
Tiger beat Rabbit for Third
Dragon was fifth.
Jade Emperor said: Where is your son?
Snake replied: I’m the one.
Snake was sixth
Horse and Goat arrived together
Horse was Seventh.
Goat was Eighth
Monkey came leaping in
To be Ninth
What a racket.
What a din!!!
Rooster was next.
Dog and Pig
Got distracted on the way
A Celestial Race
Was a time to play
Dog was Eleventh
Pig was Last.
Twelve Zodiacs
In a twelve year cycle
Born in
2007?
You will really dig
2019
Another Year of the Pig
Living spaghetti
Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,
Here comes a nice long worm.
Like spaghetti come to life,
What a busy earthworm!
Watch it slide and slither,
Oops, it’s in a dither.
Pick it up now if you dare,
Dangle it in the air.
Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,
Thank you, thank you, earthworm!
You let our soil grow good things,
Such a helpful earthworm!
Australian Children’s Poetry 