Queen Of Dried Fruit  

A sultan many years ago

was lounging on his patio

and eating grapes fresh from the vine

that had a mellow yellow shine.

A sultan is a kind of king

who never cleans up anything.

He didn’t finish all the bunch

before he went inside for lunch.

His naughty servants didn’t care

and left the plate of grapes out there.

With all the sun and wafting breeze

those grapes dried to the size of peas.

Their wrinkly skins now golden brown

provoked the king to make a frown.

But thinking they were some new treat

those old dry grapes he tried to eat!

The servants feared he might get ill

then one of them he’d want to kill.

But as he chewed he tapped his feet

then said, Yum-yum.  They taste so sweet!

Their name’s sultana, like my wife.

The queen of all that’s sweet in life.

But was it that he also knew

she’d soon go brown and wrinkly too?

Europa’s Secrets by Celia Berrell

There’s hope Europa has a sea

where living things could really be

because this moon of Jupiter

has lots of solid ice water.

The pictures of Europa show

a crusty surface white as snow

with many lines and ridges mixed

like ice sheets that have cracked and fixed.

As Jupiter’s great gravity

distorts Europa’s cavity

that energy and friction heats

and melts some water underneath.

We think this frozen water layer

could make a sea that’s hiding there.

So just below that crusty shell

it’s possible some microbes dwell.

Or what if it turns out to hold

some animals both weird and bold

that roam Europa’s chilly sea.

True aliens to you and me!

First published in Scientriffic (March 2011)

Reproduced with permission of CSIRO

www.doublehelix.csiro.au 

Discovering life exists in places beyond Earth – like Jupiter’s icy moon Europa – could be a reality in our lifetime.  Thinking about it makes my imagination run wild!  What will these creatures be like?

Body Chemistry 

Our bodies perform 

lots of chemistry tricks

to break down our food 

into useable bits.

We also have microbes 

inside us to aid

with eating the chemistry 

soups we have made.

These frothy reactions 

will bubble and pass

some carbon dioxide 

and nitrogen gas

which tries to get out 

of our digestive parts

by causing our bodies 

to make lots of farts.

Those microbes make 

hydrogen sulphide as well.

A gas we all know 

by its terrible smell.

It’s not what we’ve eaten

or what we might drink

but mostly those microbes

that make our farts stink!

first published in Scientriffic #71 January 2011

Wormy Work

Earthworms don’t have bony bits

and so they’re called invertebrates.

There’s billions living in the soil

that burrow, stretch, contract and coil.

Creating holes within soil’s layer

can mix it up and add some air

which helps break-down organic waste

and drain the rain in record haste.

Organic matter, we conclude

provides the worms with all their food.

Consuming soil is what they do.

Excreting lots of earthworm poo.

These squiggly clumps of mud have passed

through worm’s insides.  They’re called a cast.

Those casts make soil a better place

so plants grow at a faster pace.

Without the worms, the soil would not

stay very clean and start to rot.

The earthworms all have key careers

as eco-system engineers.

Celia Berrell

Baggy Pants  

(an environmental baddy)

Flapping in a sunny breeze

while snagged upon some road-side trees

those plastic carry-bags can trick us

looking like some witches knickers.

Light and strong they fly away

like parachutes on windy days

to reach the sea and float as if

they’re some weird kind of jellyfish.

They’re made from poly-ethylene.

Environmentally NOT green!

Their hydrogen and carbon chains

aren’t broken down by sun or rains.

Thin and tough they bend and flop.

Ideal for using when we shop.

But eco-systems do not share

our love for witches underwear!

A Funny Exercise

An exercise helps keep us fit.

We all agree on that.

It gets your heart a-pumping so

your body won’t go flat.

A heart-beat circulates the blood

to all our living cells.

Transporting food and oxygen

to keep us fit and well.

Doing lots of exercise

can make our heart beat fast.

Strengthening the muscles so

our body’s built to last.

Now laughing can be exercise.

A work-out for the lungs.

Releasing lots of tension if

we’re feeling highly strung.

It elevates our pulse rate

and it’s also lots of fun.

One hundred big laughs every day

will be my aim now-on.

It massages the abdomen.

It shakes those shoulders free.

A perfect form of exercise …

Ho-Ho   Ha-Ha   He-He!

morning mist

beads drowsy damsel

in condensation

noontide sun

shrinks water splash through

evaporation

Bilby Nose

The Bilby’s cute-long

bunny ears

remind us Easter’s

almost here.

These experts

burrow in the ground

where grubs and roots

for food are found.

Their dainty

pinkly pointy snouts

are perfect probes

to sniff things out.

With squeaky snuffles

snorts and grunts,

they’d help us with those

Choc-Egg hunts!

by Celia Berrell

Please have a look and read of this article.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2017/04/10-reasons-australians-should-celebrate-bilbies-not-bunnies-this-easter/