The fires came through the other day,
blazing fierce, no warning given.
A careless spark, a flash of red,
and then it grew, by strong winds driven.
It jumped the road, it charred the land,
firefighters fought it, no houses lost.
But this was home to wildlife too;
in terms of them, who’ll count the cost?
After the Dean fire near Creswick, Victoria. Image courtesy of Gina Pestana
How long have you stood there,
by whose hand were you made?
Your slabs were rough hewn,
but carefully laid
into place, long ago,
still standing but weathered,
where a drover’s horse
was maybe once tethered.
Tell me, did bushrangers
ever ride by you?
Did farmers’ children
once sit astride you?
What stories you’d whisper
of history and such,
of old pioneers
whose memories we touch.
Photo courtesy of Gina Pestana
Where did you come from?
How far did you float?
Too twisted and torn
to come from a boat.
What tide washed you here
and flung you ashore?
If you could but speak,
I’d love to know more.
Looking out to the Tasman Sea from New Zealand. Photo by Ginette Pestana
The new morning
quietly greets the day,
the soft dawning
rippling the bay,
teasing the cloud,
lighting the sky,
boats in a crowd,
and on the shore,
I wonder what the
day will be,
what adventures are
in store for me.
Near Picton, New Zealand. Photo by Ginette Pestana
I will leave behind the old shore,
that spent and weary year,
and cross over to the new,
bright and blue and clear.
I can see the peaks I’ll climb,
I’ll achieve my dreams — you’ll see!
I’ll make the world a better place,
the best year it can be.
A New Zealand lake and mountains. Photo by Ginette Pestana
Since dawn the sky was low,
no glimpse of you allowed;
now I see you clearly,
rising through the cloud.
Brave ones dare to climb you,
facing terrors all the way;
but I’m no mountaineer,
down here I will stay!
Teacher’s note: Mount Cook — Aoraki (its Maori name) — is New Zealand’s highest mountain.
In 2014, its height was given as 3,724 metres.
Photo by Ginette Pestana
What do koalas do
when it’s Christmas Day?
They sleep and sleep,
the koala way.
They don’t have tinsel
in their tree;
they don’t eat goodies
like you and me.
They feast on leaves
so juicy green,
the finest ones
that Mum has seen.
And when the day
at last is done,
baby koala has had
such fun.
Mum and baby koala. Photo: Ginette Pestana
?
What
would I do
without you
at Christmas?
Mum and Dad
love me so much;
Grandpa and Gran,
the best in the world;
my brothers and sisters;
uncles and aunts always
keep in touch; and there’s
all my friends and my pets.
No one has a family as loving
as mine, so that’s why I wonder
what
would
I do
without
you?
You’re never the same
from one day to the next,
and nobody knows
quite what to expect.
I’m told that you move
four metres a day,
and that’s very fast
for glaciers, they say.
And if I stayed overnight,
I could hear you speak,
as your ice groans and shifts
around every peak.
Teacher’s note: New Zealand’s Franz Joseph Glacier is unique for its steepness and speed. It stretches from a height of 3,000 metres down to 240 metres in less than 11 kilometres. It can shift up to four metres a day; most glaciers travel one metre a day. People camped on its slopes report hearing the glacier “groan” as it moves. At its base is a rainforest!
Photo by Ginette Pestana
Cullen skink and haggis,
fresh scallops and much more,
Stornoway Black Pudding,
we’ll eat them, shore to shore.
St Andrew’s Day is our day,
we’ll feast and dance till late,
a legend of a thousand years
is ours to celebrate.
Teacher’s note: November 30th celebrates St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, although he never set foot in the country. A Galilean fisherman, he was the first Christian disciple, St Peter’s brother, and an early martyr. According to legend, his bones were brought to Scotland for safe keeping by a monk, and later vanished into the mists of time. Scotland’s national flag is St Andrew’s Saltire Cross. (Cullen skink is a delicious creamy seafood soup, a true Scottish delicacy!)
Photo from Pexels by Engin Akyurt
Australian Children’s Poetry 