Clown Stuff
“Put that cauliflower in the colander,
not on your head, you fool!
It’s no time now for climbing the ladder
to the loft. Come on down
or you’ll be late for Clown-School.”
Tag Archives: Katherine Gallagher
At the School Camp by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentAt the School Camp
In our hut, I’m first awake.
I peer through the curtains –
nothing’s stirring out there
except for three magpies and a crow
looking for their breakfast – maybe a worm
or two. Haven’t they slept? It’s only six o’clock!
Everyone in this hut is still asleep.
Then suddenly I see the sun
climbing, climbing, ever so slowly –
a faraway orange
that I can’t reach.
Katherine Gallagher
Published in Read Me At School (ed Gaby Morgan, Macmillan Children’s Books, 2009)
Katherine said: I love “LOOK” as a POETRY PROMPT. It reminded me of my poem AT THE SCHOOL CAMP inspired by a wonderful sunrise in a weekend camp at Axedale, near Bendigo, Victoria.
Playing the Game by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentPlaying the Game
On match days,
I try to make sure
I play very well
and am first to score.
My team’s in blue,
the others are in grey.
In the heat of the minute
if I give the ball away,
it’ll be just too bad,
I won’t be picked next time;
it couldn’t be worse
if I’d committed a crime.
Don’t worry, Dad says,
A game’s just a game
but I’d like to be a star ?
maybe make my name.
Katherine Gallagher
Katherine said: My poem ‘Playing the Game’ is in response to the notion of ‘star performance’, being a star, however briefly and so on. Especially on the sports field.
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
Katherine Gallagher
Riddle by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentWhat goes up
and never down?
When you’re born,
you count me in
race me on,
only occasionally forget me.
When you’re old,
I’m still growing.
What am I?
Answer:
Katherine Gallagher
A Girl’s Head by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentA Girl’s Head
(after the poem, ‘A Boy’s Head’ by Miroslav Holub)
In it there is a dream
that was started
before she was born,
and there is a globe
with hemispheres
which shall be happy.
There is her own spacecraft,
a chosen dress
and pictures of her friends.
There are shining rings
and a maze of mirrors.
There is a diary
for surprise occasions.
There is a horse springing hooves
across the sky.
There is a sea
that tides and swells
and cannot be mapped.
There is untold hope
in that no equation exactly
fits a head.
Katherine Gallagher
From Poetry Street 3 (Sale & Orme, 1991)
Katherine said: Looking back at Poetry Prompts, I thought about #19 with its buzz of questions. And I alighted on questions about what goes on in a girl’s head. Actually, I wrote this in response to Miroslav Holub’s poem ‘A Boy’s Head’. The thing about poetry, it usually asks more questions than it answers, but that’s useful.
Broccoli-Broccoli by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentBroccoli-Broccoli-
Higgeldy Pie . . .
For a balanced diet,
why don’t you try
Broccoli-Broccoli-
Higgeldy Pie?
Buy it by the basin
buy it by the jar,
buy it by the kilo
and sing oh la la.
Everyone says
it’ll make you strong —
a buccaneer will tell you
you can’t go wrong
with Broccoli-Broccoli-
Higgeldy Pie.
Come on, risk it,
it’s do or die . . .
Katherine Gallagher
Bullies by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentBullies
With the eye in the back of his head
he sees them coming —
eight-year-old breakers,
baby-hard, baby-soft.
Their elegant space-machine
could swallow him,
drown him once and for all
in a dish of air.
They are the masters —
skills bred in the bone.
He freezes
as they expect
though a voice inside him squeaks
I . ..Words cut his tongue,
weigh in his mind
like a bruise.
Katherine Gallagher
Published in Them & Us, Bodley Head, 1993
Katherine Says: The poetry prompt “HELP” reminded me of occasions in schools and elsewhere when I’ve come up against bullying.
Humpty Dumpty by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentHumpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty
jumped in the sea.
Humpty Dumpty
sank instantly.
All the young mermaids
and their mermen
couldn’t get Humpty
to surface again.
Katherine Gallagher
Katherine says: I like the note of panic hinted at in your #26 prompt. It reminded me of my poem ‘’Humpty Dumpty’ which is jokey, a cry for help in a sense, but very tongue-in-cheek. I’ve enjoyed some sessions with children in which we tried to put a new slant on nursery-rhymes.
Count-up to Planet Bed by Katherine Gallagher
Leave a commentCount-up to Planet Bed
I’m one for the window
and two for the door.
I’m three for the ceiling
and four for the floor.
I’m five for the morning
and six for the night.
I’m seven for the stairs
and eight for the light.
I’m nine for a story
and ten for my bed.
Now I’m off for a dream
to hold in my head.
Katherine Gallagher
Published in Toothpaste Trouble (ed. Nick Toczek, Macmillan, 2002)
Katherine says: Going to bed isn’t always a happy time but it can be made fun with ‘ a one-step-at-a-time’ count-up. Your Poetry Prompt #23 reminded me of this situation.