Bone tired
Mum bends over yawning suitcases;
sorts by colour
the jumble
of sea-scented clothes.
The groaning washer
shudders in sympathy
as tiny souvenir shells
swim from sand-peppered pockets
to tinkle and swirl
in foreign
lemon-boosted foam.
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)
A Young Magpie on the Breaking Drought
What is this silver falling from the sky,
that beads slim branches, streaks the garden wall;
that drums my dusty feathers as I fly;
that, never seen before, holds me in thrall?
I see slick foliage shine as if with dew
when touched by this world-washing, magic thing
that brings the snails and worms exploring, too;
that bids me tip my head right back and sing!
© Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti
(First published by The School Magazine – Touchdown, No 2 – March 2008
Acknowledgement requested if published elsewhere)
Australian Children’s Poetry 