A polar bear waved to me
and called a loud “hello”,
as he floated past eating fish
on a jolly big ice floe.
Penguins flapped their flippers,
a humpback slapped its tail,
and I waved back with all my might
as onward I did sail…
(In response to the Winter Waves prompt)
We turned a corner and there he was,
towering in the air,
a gorgeous dog with enormous eyes
and wheat dust in his hair.
He didn’t bark, he didn’t move,
he gazed out from the wall,
beside his master, for all time,
the biggest dog of all.
Teacher’s note: This silo art is at Nullawil, Victoria, so named because the local indigenous word “nulla” is a killing stick while “willock” means a galah. Both items appear on the medal attached to the dog’s collar.
I sat and watched the night steal in,
across the barren plain,
where a bowl of salt and water
will seize the sky again.
The fire of day lies frozen
in water still and wide,
and the lake will paint the sky
and the two will scarce divide.
Teacher’s note: Lake Tyrrell, a vast salt lake, is located near Sea Lake in northern Victoria.
Banana on the bus
Bananas in a yellow stream
Have tumbled from the bus.
If you eat one and I do too,
There’s plenty there for us.
Bananas falling everywhere,
But where are all the bins?
If we eat ev’ry single one,
Where will we put their skins?
Spring cycle
When winter leaves
Leaves grow again,
Again the buds of spring
Spring into life,
Life takes on a new meaning,
Meaning of course it’s spring.
Spring, when winter leaves
Leaves grow again,
Again the world is new,
New — and freshly scented,
Scented with flowers and hope,
Hope that trouble, like winter, leaves.
Why must there be a tunnel?
(I’m tired of well-meaning metaphors!)
Why must there be a tunnel,
With light a distant dot?
Light is all around us;
It’s tunnels we ain’t got.
Why must there be a glass?
Seems strange to measure hope.
Hope is never half or full,
It’s plentiful in scope.
Message in a bottle
A message in a bottle,
Washed up by the sea,
Written by a mermaid,
Especially for me.
“I hope you’ll come and see me,”
That is what she wrote,
In beautiful handwriting
Upon her watery note.
“You’ll find me in the ocean,
“It’s really very clear:
“Latitude 15,
“And longitude just near.”
Ahoy there, Corona
On the bad, bad ship Corona,
Captain Covid spies
People coming too close —
Oh what a lovely prize!
He calls, “Ahoy! Fresh treasure, lads,”
And his virus acts,
Attacking those amongst us
Where hygiene is too lax.
So let’s sink the bad Corona,
Captain Covid too,
Because I wish good health
For everyone like you!
Teddy comes to town
One fine day I’d
love to meet
a teddy bear walking
down the street.
Wobble-bobble,
tubble-bobble,
a teddy bear walking
down the street.
We’d go shopping,
then to tea,
with cakes and sandwiches —
one, two, three.
tubble-bobble,
we’d fill our tummies, that
bear and me!
Next time you go
down the street,
perhaps a teddy bear
you will meet.
Wobble-bobble,
tubble-bobble,
a teddy bear walking
down the street.
Australian Children’s Poetry 