The rat’s drum

A rat bought a drum,

A very nice drum,

And played it down in the drain.

Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat,

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.

 

He played on that drum,

That very nice drum,

Until it started to rain.

Rat-a-tat-tat, rat-a-tat-tat,

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat.

 

The drain filled up fast,

The water surged past,

And washed everything away.

That was the end, that was the end,

That was the end of the rat-a-tat-tat.

 

FROST IN OZ

I see icicles everywhere —

On my bike and on the stair.

Down on the gate and on the grass,

Our chooks are giving eggs a pass.

I see icicles hither and yon,

I see them hanging on Uncle Ron,

On the dunny and on the ’roo,

And on my mother’s washing too.

I reckon this year the frost is worse,

With icicles on the local hearse.

I’ve never seen this kind of dew —

What’s Australia coming to?

Colour (non)sense

Polar bears are white

so they blend with the view.

Kangaroos are brown

so they blend in too.

But my new pyjamas —

bought in the Bahamas —

are purple, orange and blue!

KICKFLIPS IN VIENNA

Vienna’s railway station,

the Vienna Hauptbahnhof,

is not just very modern —

it will blow your socks right off!

The roofs go up,

the roofs go down,

the greatest ramps in town.

As trains pull in

and trains pull out,

you can slide on down.

Achtung, achtung!

Do an ollie!

Then a darkslide,

Ja, ja, ja!

Goofy-Foot and fakie next,

Vienna’s station is the best!

Translation note: in German, a Hauptbahnof is a city’s main train station.

ANZAC DAY POEM

The paper boy

A boy on a bike

through leafy streets

delivers the papers

while we are asleep.

Who hears the squeak

of his speeding wheels?

   Not us, not us,

   for we are asleep.

Who sees the sun

glint on silver spokes?

   Not us, not us,

   for we are asleep.

The paper lands

with a thud beside

a garden gnome

who peeks inside.

How well-informed

   is that old gnome!

How lazy am I

   in my bed at home!

Living spaghetti

Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,

Here comes a nice long worm.

Like spaghetti come to life,

What a busy earthworm!

Watch it slide and slither,

Oops, it’s in a dither.

Pick it up now if you dare,

Dangle it in the air.

Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,

Thank you, thank you, earthworm!

You let our soil grow good things,

Such a helpful earthworm!