First I saw bubbles —
just two or three —
breaking the surface
of the water near me.
And then into view
came the beast’s ugly snout —
“Crocodile! Crocodile!”
the world heard me shout.
I ran up the bank
as it clambered ashore
and sat in the sun
where I’d been before.
When it opened its jaws,
I had a strong hunch —
if I hadn’t moved quickly,
I would have been lunch!
Freshwater crocodile, Cobbold Gorge, North Queensland. Photo by Ginette Pestana
Every spring I lose my house —
it likes to disappear —
behind the flowers and bushes
that grow so fast round here.
No more bare old branches,
no more empty beds;
there’s greenery and colour
that everywhere turns heads.
Spring wakes up my garden,
puts magic in the air,
along with different scents
a-drifting here and there.
Springtime at an old miner’s cottage, Creswick, Victoria. Photo by Ginette Pestana
I wonder who lived here,
I wonder where they went?
Did they make a living,
or were their hopes all spent?
Did they dream of copper,
digging riches from the ground?
They haven’t been forgotten
for there’s history all around.
Perhaps at night their ghosts
still venture out to roam,
stepping lightly through the gloom
to once again come home.
The old Williams cottage, Blinman, South Australia. Photo by Ginette Pestana
Hello, Daphne, by the fence,
aren’t your flowers full of scents!
You’ve been asleep all winter long,
now you’re blooming sweet and strong.
You spice the breeze and fill the air,
your flowers white, your fragrance rare.
The moment all your blooms appear,
you tell me that spring is here.
Photo credit Ginette Pestana
Why is it called a bearded iris?
There’s not a whisker in sight.
Unless, of course, it had a shave
sometime in the night.
I think it looks just great
without a bristling beard,
and it if had a moustache
that would look very weird!
Bearded iris. Photo by Ginette Pestana
On the dreamy river,
drifting with the tide,
past old shutter’d houses
where history lives inside.
Breezes tease the palms,
stir a lazy frond or two,
and in the milky sky
the heat is shining through.
The Portuguese and Dutch,
the British all were here;
five hundred years of stories
like magic can appear.
An old kampong by the Melaka River, Malaysia. Photo by Ginette Pestana
I wish that in my bathroom
I had a shower like this!
All that water tumbling —
wouldn’t it be bliss?
Cascading down my back,
in a rushing flow!
The only problem is,
where would so much water go?
I’d need a massive drainhole
to carry it away,
and one enormous tap
to turn it on each day.
Waterfall, Milford Sound, New Zealand. Photo by Ginette Pestana
My nose is buried in a book,
as I read from cover to cover,
and with every line I read,
new things I discover.
Each word makes a picture,
each picture fires my brain —
it’s such a great adventure,
how can I explain?
One day I will write a book
and everyone will read it —
an author I am going to be,
and you’d best believe it!
Image from Pexels by Min An
Out in the wilds
the daylight is dying;
the darklight is coming,
and the wind is a-sighing.
Shadows will deepen,
grow darker and soon,
with the quiet starlight,
will come the moon.
The pastures will sleep
and not waken till morn,
when at last the sun rises
and a new day is born.
North Island, New Zealand. Photo by Ginette Pestana
Word is a word
that rhymes with word.
But what about cord,
and ford and sword?
They don’t rhyme with word,
as you’ve no doubt heard.
How come English is so erratic,
so hard to learn and problematic?
My word, I wish I knew!
Photo from Pexels by Pixabay
Australian Children’s Poetry 