Silent silo,
commerce fails,
no more trains,
rusting rails.
Rain and wind
sweep platforms clean,
railway ghosts
go unseen.
Teacher’s note: South Australia’s Burra railway station was a busy stop on the main line to Broken Hill and Perth.Passenger services ceased in December 1986, and the last grain trains operated in 1999. Volunteers have lovingly restored the station buildings.
How can flowers grow a beard,
And do they need to shave?
It seems a very funny way
For flowers to behave.
Do they use a razor,
Or will some clippers do?
I think bearded irises
Are rather weird, don’t you?
Why do they call it black,
when I think it looks all white?
Every tree, draped with snow,
and more will fall tonight!
Such a magic kingdom,
of lakes and towering peaks,
of deep, dark woods and valleys,
and babbling falls and creeks.
And in any village,
wood carvers work all day.
Listen to their cuckoo clocks,
hand-made the German way.
Teacher’s note: The Black Forest (in German, Schwarzwald) is so-named because its fir forests are dark and mysterious. It covers 6,000 square kilometres, its highest peaks soaring to 1,400 metres. The Danube and Neckar Rivers have their source here. Traditional skills include woodworking, crafting musical instruments and of course cuckoo clocks!
A waterwheel that slowly turns,
A river there that swiftly churns,
A secret garden in the sunWhere lazy dreams are gently spun.
Where is this drowsy mill house found, Where insects buzz in sleepy sound?
In France! For there, midst ancient walls,
Legends live and history calls.
The sun melts
into the far hills;
the lake catches fire
as the heat spills.
Night is coming now
this land to fill;
will tomorrow be
more perfect still?
In a Polish village,
opening to the sun,
I found all these flowers
when spring had well begun.
What a splash of colour,
I was lucky to be there,
where ancient wooden houses
huddled round the square.
“Hello, kid,” the orangutan said.
“You look very familiar.”
“That’s because,” the young boy said,
“We’re both very similar.”
“But I don’t live in a house, boy,”
The wise orangutan said.
“It doesn’t matter,” the young boy said,
“Where you lay your head…
“The fact is, you and I are friends
“From way back deep in time.”
“If that is so,” the orangutan said,
“Put your hand in mine.”
Teacher’s note: In Bahasa (Indonesian and Malay languages), orang means “man” or “person”, while utan means “jungle”. Thus, the orangutan is a man of the forest. Many experts now believe that the orangutan — not the chimpanzee — is closest to humans in traits and characteristics.
I have a hidden house
in a garden full of flowers,
and I love to sit in silence
and gaze at it for hours.
The little house was built
in the Gold Rush so I’m told,
but for me it is a treasure
worth more than any gold.
I wandered in a forest deep
and found this ancient tree.
Two thousand years it’s grown here;
lots more it well might see.
They said it’s called a Beech,
born in forests long ago,
before Antarctica
had turned to ice and snow.
Teacher’s note: Lamington and Springbrook National Parks are located on the Scenic Rim of the Gold Coast hinterland. Two hundred and twenty-five million years ago, the continents of South America, Africa, Australia and Antarctica, along with India, New Zealand, Madagascar and Arabia made up a single land mass called Gondwana. When Gondwana broke up 120 million years ago, Australia remained attached to Antarctica. Seventy million years ago, when Antarctica was covered with rainforests, Australia separated and moved north. This Antarctic Beech has survived to this day. Sadly much of the ancient rainforest was lost to logging in the 19th Century.
Step onto its glistening sand
and hear the squeaky sound.
Then find the granite boulders,
big and red and round.
What a beach to visit,
listen to it talk,
simply take your shoes offand take a little walk.
Australian Children’s Poetry 