Dandy dinosaurs dancing
Dreamy dinosaurs drinking
Dexterous dinosaurs dinking
Dainty dinosaurs dazzling
Devilish dinosaurs diving
Dozy dinosaurs dallying
Delicate dinosaurs dawdling
Dimpled dinosaurs drooping
Image courtesy of Vector Stock
Tag Archives: Katherine Gallagher
Unknown Soldier by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentWe have covered him with real flowers
and taken him from country to country.
It’s always the same journey –
people standing in the streets
silently saluting
as we carry him by.
And our hands tremble
under his weight,
our eyes are shocked
by the riddle of tongues
presenting the same paradox
in every country –
the whole human voice as background
shrilled to fever
about keeping the guns at bay.
In response to November prompt Remembrance Day
1942 by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentThey’d hoped he’d be back for Christmas –
the lights shining down on him, the tree
somehow shielding off the horror. A break.
The family hadn’t seen him as a soldier,
in his uniform, among harvested paddocks,
the dried stubble that pricked your legs.
Arriving home, he said Merry Christmas,
hugged people and slapped them on the back.
Wandered about the place, eyes crinkled
with strain, lines dug
into his forehead. So young, he seemed
to be either laughing or very sad
as though, in between,
there was nothing.
In response to November prompt Remembrance Day.
A Chant For The Matildas by Katherine Gallagher
3 CommentsLather and blather
Let the crowds gather
Mad hurly-burly
Get some goals early
Quavery-ravery
Mark the ball savery
Fantastic-electric
Pass-the-ball hectic
Whip the ball in
For another big win
Hackle and tackle
Join in the crackle
Hats off to players
Stars and best-dayers
Glory and roary
Keep-the-ball story
By Dracula’s dinners
O let them be winners
Football Bravo by Katherine Gallagher
1 CommentIt was called ‘a game made in heaven’ –
boots, balls, flags, bands and painted faces,
a game that grew like history ‒ the wonder game,
the glory of it . . .
There were star-names like Stanley Matthews and Alex James
from days when footballers earned a few pounds a week
and wore knee-length shorts.
There were others like Pele,
Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Best – heroes of the game
with talents galore. Some played in World Cups,
some didn’t, but they played the ‘beautiful game’
and loved it.
Finally, girls started playing football:
they had their World Cup too.
“At the dinosaur picnic” by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentAt the dinosaur picnic
Dandy dinosaurs dancing
Dreamy dinosaurs drinking
Dexterous dinosaurs dinking
Dainty dinosaurs dazzling
Devilish dinosaurs diving
Dozy dinosaurs dallying
Delicate dinosaurs dawdling
“Broomfield Park” by Katherine Gallagher
3 Comments
A moorhen busies herself,
rocks this way and that
on a wave-washed nest.
Swans float in late afternoon chill,
shadows lengthen,
chestnut buds swell.
Forsythia trembles the breeze –
pastel-green willows barely move
dipping branch-tips into the lake.
Every year I wait for this –
first flowers, trees leafing
on sculpted branches,
reflecting in the water
their steadfast
cascades of green.
©Katherine Gallagher
“At Dendy’s Dinosaur Dungeon” by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a comment
Deadly Dinosaurs Delving
Dangerous Dinosaurs Dazzling
Decorous Dinosaurs Drawing
Dandy Dinosaurs Dancing
Dehydrated Dinosaurs Drinking
Desperate Dinosaurs Digging
Dizzy Dinosaurs Digesting
©Katherine Gallagher
“At the Playground” by Katherine Gallagher
2 Comments
At the Playground
(for Julien)
The March wind whisks against us:
my son, three, starts the roundabout
refuses to get on himself. Today
he has planned ahead, says it’s his turn
to push me, watches me on board
and I’m away. I enjoy being passenger,
store all this for later –
the afternoon’s lulled moves,
everywhere the air heady
and he in the foreground
racing his years, reminding me
to take care, hang on.
The ground spins, blurs; he begs it
with each command, checks
I’m not going too fast.
‘You can’t fall off,’ he says
smiling, assured.
I know it, this steady pace
contains us both, days overlap: he will perhaps
never love me more than now.
© Katherine Gallagher
Australian Children’s Poetry 