After investing so much time (and money) getting the Australian Children’s Poetry blog up and running, I have now decided to hand over the reins to Teena Raffa-Mulligan whom I’m convinced is just the right person for the job. Thank you, Teena, for doing so and good luck!

Thank you, too, for the many ACP supporters, especially my dearest husband, Bill Condon, a marvellous children’s poet (and author).  The hugest thanks of all goes to Helen Ross who has been amazing with all of the energy and enthusiasm she’s given to her job of creating the blog and continuing to support me with many technical glitches. Without her invaluable help the blog would not have picked up the nearly 65,000 hits it’s had in the past 12 months.

I am now going to focus on my own creative writing and to continue compiling and editing Buzz Words, the twice monthly online magazine I founded in 2006 for those in the children’s book industry. You can check out the Buzz Words’ blog on http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com and if you send me an email to dibates@outlook.com, I will send you the latest issue to see if you’d like to subscribe.

Cheerio!

Di

Icy Fruit

On a stinking hot day in grade four,

our teacher read us a poem
about icy watermelon.

She tormented us with its words.

Sweat ran down

our backs—

we groaned, thinking

of the cold fruit in our hands,

the juice running down our chins.

Instead we sat cross-legged

on the itchy carpet floor,

gathering pins and needles.

Anna Jacobson

The Dugong

swish, swish, chomp

swish, swish, chomp

the gentle dugong

grazed slowly on the grass

fronds waving in the sea

water clear as glass

swish, swish, chomp

swish, swish, chomp

bristled snout aquiver

surrounded by this lunch

roughened lips are ready

to grasp and crunch and munch

swish, swish, chomp

swish, swish, chomp

six long minutes pass

tummy full of greens

the timid herbivore

sticks snout above to breathe

woooosh

“Is that a… ?”

“shhhhhhh!”

safe back underwater

grass plentiful to chew

this quiet dugong

finds a home in the Ningaloo

swish, swish, chomp

swish, swish, chomp

© Kristina Hoy

A hairy problem

If she hadn’t asked what

she should do with the knot

that was causing her terrible trouble

she’d be sitting right there

with a full head of hair

and not running her fingers through stubble.

I’d requested she sit

while I looked at the bit

that she said always tangles and frizzes

and I have to confess

I’ve created a mess.

I should never have picked up the scissors.

©  Jenny Erlanger

D  O     N O T    D I S T U R B

I feel impatient to begin my quest

My card is clutched tightly to my chest,

As I enter this place where ideas reside

This amazing space wherein worlds can collide:

The past, the present and future days –

In a profusion of factual and fictional ways

I feel a hunger, but I must explain

The urge I have is to feed my brain

With words and images that intertwine

To create an experience, uniquely mine:

Be it action, adventure, romance or mystery,

Fantastic or funny or all about history

I feel the need, the need to read

And in this library, I shall succeed

I will peruse those books that catch my eye

And I will choose just one to take aside

Then I warn you, in case you have not heard

I am longing to read – so do not disturb!

© Irene Buckler

LILLI BLACK SWAN

Lilli Black Swan

takes her time,

swims and dips

in water and slime.

She likes to glide

and is never topsy-turvy.

Is it just because

the water’s so curvy?

© Katherine Gallagher

TWO THOUGHTS FOR PAULINA AND WILL

1

The seamstress sea edges the beach

with a trim of lace,

then quickly takes it back again

to sew white ruffles on the breaking waves.

2

There can be no finer meal than this —

fish-and-chips on a sunlit beach

with you–

and just a pinch of sand.

© Anne Bell

Uncle Quimby’s Quandock

Uncle Quimby had a quandock – a champion of its breed;

he fed it tripe and honey; exercised it on a lead.

But quandocks can be vicious pets, as everybody knows,

and Uncle’s crimson quandock liked to chew on human toes!

It all became too much for him.  So, hobbling into town,

he swapped it for a snoogle — vegetarian and brown.

Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti

(First published in The School Magazine – Countdown, June 2007 [Vol. 92 No. 5] Acknowledgement requested if published elsewhere)

The Best Dog in the Universe

Found in a quarry

Of origins unknown,

Turbo is his name – he is

TURB-tastic, TURB-acious, TURB-iffic!

A tail-chasing tornado,

An explorer of backyards, own and other,

A maker of many friends – he is

TURB-tastic, TURB-acious, TURB-iffic!
A lover of sticks and twigs in fact

Branches of any kind, hurled or lobbed,

An Olympic canine paddler – he is

TURB-tastic, TURB-acious, TURB-iffic!

Stretched out on the terrace watching the stars

He protects, a snake-alert cat alarm,

Waiting for snacks, for pats and to play – he is

TURB-tastic, TURB-acious, TURB-iffic!

© Louise Molloy