Tag Archives: poems for the classroom

Poem of the Day

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I am a geologist

 

I am a young geologist,

I study gems and rocks,

And go fossicking for fossils,

And add them to my box.

 

I have all sorts of crystals,

Some are pretty rare,

Some I gathered from a beach,

I found them everywhere.

 

Some rocks are from volcanos,

Some wash up on a shore,

Some came from a quarry,

Where there’s many, many more.

 

My favourites are the shiny gems

With colours clear and bright.

From blackest black obsidian

To ones that let through light.

 

There’s chrysocolla, jasper,

Emerald, onyx, jade,

Amethyst, carnelian.

Their colours never fade.

 

Maybe when I’m older,

I’ll go digging when I’m free,

And find a new gem never seen,

And name it after me.

Pamela Ueckerman

 

Pamela said: This one I wrote for my son, who is obsessed with rocks, minerals and gems.  While most young children are interested in them, he takes it to the next level.  He is four years old and tells anyone who’s interested that he wants to be a geologist when he grows up, he even had a geology theme for his fourth birthday.  I have incorporated some of his favourite gems into the poem.

To find out more about Pamela and her writing, visit www.ueckerman.net

 

Poem of the Day

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Moonlight Surprise

 

The moonlight shines brightly

casting dancing shadows afar.

A tiger prowls past

Creeping into the night.

Just behind a tree

a crouching black mystery

seems to be stalking

me in the deep,

dark, black night shadows.

But as I draw

closer and closer surprise!

For the black mystery

Isn’t a scary thing.

As the dancing moonlight

shines ever so brightly.

Then I see revealed

our dog Elmo hiding

behind a dark tree.

Elmo crouches and waits

to doggy surprise me

in the night so

that I’m never alone.

Karen Hendriks
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #16

Magic Fish Dreaming: Review

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Magic Fish Dreaming by June Perkins, illustrated by Helene Magisson (Gumbootspearlz Press)

ISBN 9780980731187 PB RRP $17.99

Review: Teena Raffa-Mulligan

 

Words and pictures dance a joyful duet throughout the pages of this beautifully presented illustrated collection of poems.

Magic Fish Dreaming invites young readers to seek out and appreciate the wonders of this world we share and recognise the poetry in the natural and urban environment.

June Perkins’ poetry is evocative and whimsical and their spirit is reflected in Helene Magisson’s exquisite full colour illustrations.

The collection opens with the delightful Hunting for a Poem, my personal favourite.

We can hear the waves

Yes, we can be like waves

Find simile in sky

Clouds whispering ‘goodbye’.

Readers are then led on a journey of the imagination to explore secret places, chat with a cassowary, do a storm dance, sing a rain song and let their imaginations roam free in rainforest country.

Perkins has been writing, performing and publishing poetry in Australia and the Pacific. She won an Australia Day cultural award in 2011 for services to writing and mentoring youth. June has published two books, Under One Sky (2010) and After Yasi, Finding the Smile Within (2013).  In 2008, after moving to Far North Queensland, she coordinated Ripple, a community project for multicultural groups and schools to celebrate poetry and photography and began writing some of the poetry that would become this book.  In 2016 she won an Australian Society of Authors mentorship and has been working on picture books and a young adult novel ever since.

Magisson was trained in the art of medieval illumination in Paris, exhibiting her work in Europe and teaching the history and techniques of medieval miniature in primary and high schools, both in France and in India, where she lived for a few years. When she settled in Australia, Magisson decided to start a new career in children’s book illustration. She has illustrated, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco and Night Before Christmas for New Frontier.  Several other projects are due for release in 2017.

The book was created through crowd funding from 142 backers from 10 countries.

Magic Fish Dreaming is a book to share and to treasure in families and in classrooms.

It is currently available through Peter Pal library supplier, direct from author at https://magicfishdreaming.com/ and from selected Queensland book stores.

 

 

 

 

Poem of the Day

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Anzac Day

 

They fought for freedoms we hold dear

And paid an awful price.

They faced the foe and conquered fear

To make their sacrifice.

 

Today we honour those who died,

And others who returned,

Who with their fellows, side by side

True comradeship had learned.

 

May all who love Australia fair,

Both here and far away,

Ourselves aspire to gladly serve

Through sacrifice today.

Monty Edwards

 

Author Comment:  It’s fitting that we honour the courage and sacrifice of past generations of Australian service personnel and citizens, but I believe our nation’s future largely depends on how we personally respond to their example in meeting the challenges facing our society today.

Poem of the Day

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Atonement

 

Coast of Normandy,

France, Omaha Beach.

Today the tide is out –

barely a ripple.

Cement bunkers and bomb craters

merge into the grass,

haunted

 

by d-day, June ‘44.

Wave after wave, forward or drown,

nowhere to go but falling.

Mangled tanks, body parts.

Blood on the tide.

Exploding cliffs.

 

Now the guns are sold for scrap,

the bodies collected,

laid in neat rows

in the cemetery above,

 

under white marble crosses,

so precisely placed

that if I kneel I see one –

if I stand I see thousands.

 

Oceans of crosses.

I read along the rows –

Name: Regiment: Hometown:

Creep soundlessly, with sickened awe.

Is sleep a just reward?

 

The Pool of Remembrance:

waterlilies soften its sharp angles,

wisp of a breeze ruffles the reflection

of chiselled words on the monument above.

 

Can the sacrifice be softened?

Can the past be put to rest?

 

In the distance the gardener kneels,

shears in hand, cutting the grass,

blade by blade. Around one cross

then on to the next –

and on and on and on.

Glenys Eskdale

Glenys said: I wrote this poem after visiting the Colleville, the American war cemetery at the site of the d-day landings in Normandy in June 1944. I have since visited World War One war cemeteries on the Somme in France. My sentiments have not changed. Nothing can atone for the unspeakable horrors these men endured.

 

 

 

 

 

Poem of the Day

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The End of the Solar System

 

Our sun releases energy.

A plasma called the Solar Wind.

But far away it’s just a breeze.

And further still that breeze will end.

 

The space probes Voyager 1 and 2

have travelled over thirty years

transmitting sounds and pictures as they

act as mankind’s eyes and ears.

 

Voyager 1 has reached the point

where Solar Wind no longer blows.

Now cosmic rays from other stars

our Voyager’s detector shows.

 

Eighteen billion kilometres

away from Earth, these space probes trace

just what it’s like existing on

the edge of interstellar space!

Celia Berrell
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #13

Celia said: For me, the word “GO” prompts the questions “how far CAN we go?”  The most distant man-made objects are the space probes Voyager 1 & 2.  Launched in 1977, they are still transmitting information, helping us learn more about space and the farthest reaches of our Solar System.  Even when we can’t “GO” somewhere ourselves, we can still discover fascinating stuff about our world!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-16/voyager-space-probe-reaches-edge-of-solar-system/4074468

 

Poem of the Day

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Ready, Steady, Go!

 

Ready, steady, go!

What do you want to know?

My name is Fleet,

My brother’s Pete,

And this is my sister, Jo.

 

Ready, steady, go –

What will we see at the show?

A clown with sweets

For parakeets,

And elephants laying low.

 

Ready, steady, go –

What will we do in the snow?

We’ll build a street

Of snow and sleet,

With icicle homes in a row.

 

Ready, steady, go –

Why is the house aglow?

It’s a retreat

For tired feet,

So everyone here, let’s go!

 

Lyn Oxley

 

  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #13

Lyn said: I sense a marching beat to this poem, hence the retreat for tired feet.

 

 

Poem of the Day

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Heading To the Game

 

I prodded my mate as we rode on the train.

“You know that we’re just gonna thrash you again.

Your players are either too short or too slow.

It’s a foregone conclusion. Just thought you should know.

 

“Besides, your team’s mascot. Mate, give me a break.

A platypus? That is a major mistake!

A lion or tiger might stir up some fear.

A platypus? Your blokes have got no idea!

 

“And why is it purple? I tell you, it’s sad.

A team needs a mascot that’s scary and bad.

Yours just looks weird. It’s not a good look.

No wonder the team you support is so crook.”

My mate simply smiled. He wasn’t upset.

“You’re really so certain? Well, let’s have a bet.

You look and you sound like a back-country bumpkin.

You can share my soup later.” “Tomato?” “No, pumpkin.”

 

Stephen Whiteside
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #9

Poem of the Day

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Spellbound!

 

Today I started back at school

And heard about a brand new rule.

My teacher had an evil grin.

She said:  “I’m going to keep you in

Till you can spell ‘Afghanistan’.

You won’t be leaving till you can.”

 

I heard her words with great dismay.

My friend and I had planned to play,

And since my spelling’s rather poor,

My chance of getting out the door

And going off to play with him

Seemed altogether rather slim.

 

But then my Afghan friend Khalil

Said: “I can guess how you must feel,

Because I often felt a failure

When I first tried to spell ‘Australia’.

Let’s work together as a team,

It’s not as hard as it might seem.”

 

We worked together, he and I.

He had a plan for me to try:

“I think,” he said, “you’ll find it best

To learn just ‘Afghan’, then the rest.

So let’s begin with ‘Af’ and ‘ghan’.

You’ll surely manage ‘is’ and tan’!”

 

Well, spelling ‘Af’ did not take long.

(He told me double f was wrong),

But as for ‘ghan’ I must beware,

Since silent h had crept in there!

But once he put me on my guard

Inserting h was not so hard.

 

I added then both ‘is’ and ‘tan’

And neatly wrote “Afghanistan”

Then when our turn had come to spell

Khalil and I performed so well

That in the end, despite her grin,

The teacher couldn’t keep us in.

 

Monty Edwards
  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #4

Monty says:  “I started with the idea of a new rule for a new school year and since accurate spelling presents a significant challenge for many children (and adults!) decided to combine these two elements in the poem. It gave me an opportunity to add a dash of  fruitful understanding and teamwork with someone from a different background.”

 

 

Poem of the Day

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Eggshell Animals

 

Purple-coloured jellybeans

with tiny arms and legs

will prod and poke a hole in

their marble-sized white egg.

 

Once hatched, they’ll grow-up hairy

and have a leathery beak.

So are they some new kind of bird

whose wings became antique?

 

No, no.  It’s not a birdy thing.

Then could it be lizard?

No.  Fur won’t grow on reptiles …

unless tricked by a wizard!

 

At first they’re bald as pumpkins

and lap their mother’s milk.

But four months-old, a platypus

has fur like soft thick silk.

Celia Berrell

inspired by:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Y2h5zjpWU

  • Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #9