Serpent-like monsters,

grotesque teeth and claws,

wide wondrous wings

and frightening jaws.

Scaly or feathery,

bellowing fire,

this dragon’s our fear

to hire or retire.

 

Most humans will have

innate fear of snakes.

Don’t want to be bitten

or eaten like cakes.

Nor to be gouged

or burnt into flakes.

And flying or falling

can give us the shakes!

 

This dragon of terror

can come to our aid.

By facing our fears,

our future is made.

And like many fears,

once overcome,

our dragon could end-up

being our chum.

Birdsong sounds

 

We can:

cackle like a Kookaburra,

hoot like an owl,

coo like a dove

or cluck like a fowl.

But some bird sounds

need whistling skills,

to copy Willie Wagtails

or Fairy-Wren trills.

While other birdsongs

are too hard to do –

screeching like Galahs

hurts my voice box too!

 

inspired by the Birds In Backyards website, where you can listen to 40 different Australian backyard birdsongs:

Do Dolphins Kiss?

 

The dolphins swimming in the sea

make clicks and squeaks quite frequently.

These sounds move fast through liquid’s layer

compared to noises in the air.

 

Their clicks and chirps we can’t translate

but that’s how they communicate.

Not all their whistles we can hear.

They’re pitched too high for human ears.

 

They also sent out sounds to mark

locations of the sharks at dark

by bouncing echoes in the black

and timing when they’re getting back.

 

Since dolphins have to hold their breath

when swimming in the ocean’s depth

their voices aren’t from air that flows.

Instead they’ve lips inside their nose!

 

Their happy squeaks and chatty clicks,

those chirpy whistles, pops and hiss

like sounds of children’s playground bliss

are made from just a dolphin’s kiss.

Food Flight

 

Food

in zero gravity

creates

quite a calamity.

Crumbs

can float-off anywhere:

mingle

with your wafting hair;

up

your nose;

get

in your ears;

cause

choking, sneezing

itching

tears!

 

Tourists

will soon fly in space

expecting

snacks to be in place.

Marshmallows

can’t get up your nose.

At worst

they might mess-up your clothes.

If

thrown around

they’re

safe and fun.

Food-ball

cushions

tasting

yum!

 

First published in Double Helix (April 2017)

Reproduced with permission of CSIRO

www.doublehelix.csiro.au

 

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/ditl_eating

 

As days grow cooler,

deciduous trees

change their colours

then lose their leaves.

 

Before they fall,

green chlorophyll’s

no longer made

in autumn’s chill.

 

So we can see

those leaves unclad,

revealing what

they’ve always had.

 

Rich-red raincoats

misty-glossed,

pumpkin patchwork

veins criss-crossed,

 

flapping honey

leather soles,

and dying, dowdy

paper scrolls.

 

This autumn rainbow’s

red – gold – brown.

Confetti falling

all around.

http://www.livescience.com/16508-fall-leaves-rainbow-gallery.html

 

Venice, in the Middle Ages

feared infection from the boats

that visited its harboured stages,

ordering sailors to “stay afloat!”

For forty days they had to anchor.

NOT set foot on Venice land,

to make sure none were sick and rank

or had bubonic plague at hand.

Quaranta giorni (Kwa-rant-a jee-or-nee)

Quaranta giorni (Kwa-rant-a jee-or-nee)

is “Forty Days” in Italian.

That’s where the word for isolation

known as QUARANTINE began.

 

https://www.dictionary.com/e/quarantine-vs-isolation

 

 

“Got to stop. Got to stop

and blow the dandelion clock.”

That’s what my best friend used to say.

And then we’d blow that clock away.

 

She’s moved-on to another town.

I’m left alone and feeling down.

I still think of the fun we had.

Our friendship made me very glad.

 

The dandelion’s flower-head

all golden-yellow, sunshine-fed

is made of many small florets

arranged all neatly in a set.

 

When fertilised by bugs and bees

each little flower forms a seed.

They all hold hands with hairy arms.

As though they make a friendship charm.

 

And so I play this little game.

Remembering my best friend’s name.

“Got to stop. Got to stop

and blow the dandelion clock.”

How to have hygienic hands

 

Some harmful bugs

we’ve touched will hide

in crinkly creases,

moist or wide;

in crevices

and groovy spots

of which our hands

have quite a lot.

 

Make sure the soap

will never fail

to rummage under

fingernails.

And rub each

padded fingerprint

upon a palm

or handy dint.

 

Then soap and rub

each finger base –

those webby bits,

with fingers laced.

When rinsed and dried

our hands are ACE …

unless we touch

our nose and face!

 

https://www.newscientist.com/letter/mg24532690-100-handwashing-technique-more-important-than-time