A Scorpion’s Search
A scorpion christened Cruella, left home to search for a fella.
She sifted through sand and she searched under slate.
She peered under pebbles to look for a mate.
She reached under rocks and she gazed at the ground but a masculine mini beast couldn’t be found.
Cruella, poor creature, was filled with despair.
There had to be someone who loved her out there.
But wait! She heard rustling and spotted the cause.
From a burrow appeared some spectacular claws.
They belonged to a sumptuous scorpion male.
What glorious eyes, and that sting in his tail!
It was love at first sight for Cruella and friend,
Which is how satisfactory quests all should end.
Mirror Image.
Looking in the mirror,
What do I see?
A very magnificent
Image of me!
Do others see me
Just like that,
Or do they see
A ginger cat?
I wish folk looked
Beyond the fur,
The very gentle
Kitty purr,
And see
The lionheart In me,
The part my human
Always sees!
Notes:
Beauty and bravery are much more than skin deep!
The poem encourages us not to be too quick to judge others, but to get to know them and appreciate the qualities that make them unique.
The people who love us are generally the ones who see our best qualities and try to help us develop them the more.
Activity:
Write a list of things that might not look particularly attractive but which have qualities we might really appreciate. Example – cocoa bean which is used to make chocolate.
The Lion in the Mirror
My mirror isn’t looking right
kitty mewed today
it doesn’t really seem like me
in any single way
For I’m just a
little itty bitty
tiny fluffy ginger kitty
Something’s broke
and it’s no joke
who is this feline hairy bloke?
Big Cat
With bushy hair and golden eyes
I’m just a kitten in disguise.
Though roaring is so much more my style
Which can indeed appear hostile.
Whereas a tiny kitten’s purr
Makes people smile and stroke their fur.
And of course kittens prance around
Their four paws hardly touch the ground.
Occasionally I too like to play
But I mostly laze throughout the day.
Though mice can be a tasty snack
It’s the larger animals that I attack.
By night I hunt and stalk my prey
Zebra and antelope for this gourmet.
Yes I’m the king of creatures great and small
The fiercest and most powerful of all.
But beneath this majestic mane of gold
Beats a kitten’s heart, so sweet and bold.
My Mother’s Horse-shoe Ring
(after Grace Nichols)
Sometimes when I see it
on my index finger
I am reassured,
rub its ruby stone, her gift.
I need this small reminder
of her, its lucky charm
that catches me
like an itinerant fire
chipped from the sun.
©Katherine Gallagher
Published in Acres of Light Arc Publications, 2016)
The tale of Maximus Dunker
A golfer named Maximus Dunker
One day shot himself a real clunker.
Hit the ball in the air
but was full of despair
When it landed down in a bunker.
Cat Trick
My cat liked to climb on my bedroom chair,
Right next to my chest of drawers.
He would spring to the chest with a mighty leap
Where he landed on all fours.
There on the top, where a mirror stood,
He looked at me, as a winner would
While he smugly licked his paws.
This was a trick he’d performed before,
So I did what I had to do:
I’d found a shot of a lion’s head,
On a leaflet from the zoo.
I shaped it into the mirror’s frame:
One look would scare him and end his game,
He’d be off to his cat-a-loo!
I watched to see if he’d turn his head
And he’d face what was waiting there.
To see him jump promised such a treat:
The suspense would be hard to bear!
Then he turned. I could not believe my eyes:
He showed not a hint of the least surprise;
Not a bit did he seem to care.
Then as I was watching he lifted a paw
As if to greet someone he knew.
Was it his grandpa he thought that he saw?
Was he wondering just what he should do?
But stroking the lion, he shredded its face!
This meant his smug self soon appeared in its place,
As he thought: “I’m much smarter than you
Australian Children’s Poetry 