Water Droplets by Celia Berrell

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Where liquid water meets the air
it has a surface tension.
An outer layer of molecules
that all have strong attraction.

Water droplets round in shape
like beads will often form,
hanging on a cobweb’s threads
like jewels in the dawn.

And on a pond small insects simply
walk along its top.
Their tiny feet don’t break that layer.
Along the top they hop.

A raindrop on a window-pane
will slide towards the ground
as water is a fluid that
can easily move round.

It leaves behind a trailing tail
as it goes trickling past
because that surface tension makes
it stick upon the glass.

I like to pick out two big drops
and guess their moving pace
to see which one will trickle first
and win the window race.

Poem from The Science Rhymes Book. Illustration by Amy Sheehan

Mountain Morning by James Aitchison

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The morning mist lingers,

doesn’t want to go.

The air crackles,

overnight was zero.

I’ve stoked the fire,

boiled the tea,

a long cold day

awaits me.

What Am I? by James Aitchison

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Am I a cathedral —

or something finer?

Maybe a palace,

or an ocean liner?

Am I a museum,

studded with gold?

A famous art gallery

with pictures old?

The fact is, I’m nothing

much of a sensation.

I’m just the local

railway station!

(Teacher’s note: Kecskemet —pronounced KETCH-kem-ayt — is the eighth largest city in Hungary. It is located at the north of the Hungarian South Great Plain. In January, temperatures drop below zero; in July they average 22 degrees Celsius. The famous composer Zoltan Kodaly was born here. In the years under Communist rule, many public places such as railway stations were decorated to inspire awe and express the power of the State.)

Mother’s Days by P.J. Rodriguez

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Why do mothers have one date
on which we choose to celebrate
the love we feel for all they share;
for all their work; how much they care?

Throughout the year – on other days –
must we store our pride and praise?
Should we save our hugs and thanks
in special Honour Mother banks?

Are we meant to leave love locked
inside a vault, our feelings blocked,
until that Thanks Mum! payday nears,
rewarding Mother’s sweat and tears?

Mothers toil, protect, and nourish,
every day, to help us flourish.
Spoil your mum on Mother’s Day …
and All Year Round, in every way.

PJ Rodriguez

Umbrella by Marcus Ten Low

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i have such a big umbrella,
but i’m such a little fella.

i look a treat with my galoshes,
a splish and splash and silly sploshes,

shielded from so many showers,
walking among rain-speckled flowers,

and now the wind blows through my hair,
blowing my brolly when i’m unaware

and turning it inside-out!
god of the skies, oh what a clout!

my poor brolly rolls end on end
that i’m sooooo wet…condemned!

o silly golly gosh, you brolly!
how you make me mad and yet…so jolly!…

Secret Steps by James Aitchison

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I wonder where they come from,

I wonder where they go,

I wonder who might use them,

as they hurry to and fro.

Is a ghost abroad at night?

Does it haunt this secret place?

I can hear its shuffling feet,

but I cannot see its face!

So ancient are these steps,

So stony cold and bare,

In the heart of old Vienna,

By a bleak and wintry square. 

There’s A Gruble In My Garden by Warren Cox

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There’s a Gruble in my garden

wearing rainbow coloured clothes.

He lives beneath the gimble patch

where no one ever goes.


If you’re curious I’ll show you,

but you’ve got to promise me,

you’ll never tell a single soul.

That’s how it’s got to be.

We’ll tiptoe from our bedrooms

and steal along the hall,

then down the stairs, across the yard

up to the garden wall.

We’ve got to be as quiet as mice

‘cause on the other side,

if the Gruble hears a noise,

beneath the gimble patch he’ll hide.

He won’t be there this morning,

nor in the afternoon.

But set your clock for midnight

and provided there’s a moon

He’ll be digging out the mungle weeds

and chopping through the ling,

to clear the ground of carbles

for the annual rickshing.    

It’s a really wondrous sight to see 

 this rickshing celebration.

Grubles come from every corner

of the Gruble nation.     

                                                                                     Their tables all are laden                                                                                

with every fine delight;

baked bullwort, creamy piggler

and barbequed quambite.

The party lasts for eldons,

till the mungle weed grows back.

Then they finish with a lively dance

they call the rakanbak.

But as the moon gets lower.

Just before the sun turns red.

The Grubles leave the way they came

and go back home to bed.

And the Gruble in my garden

with the rainbow coloured clothes?

Well – he’s back beneath the gimble patch

where no one ever goes.   

My Word! by James Aitchison

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Shoes always come in pairs,

but pears don’t come in shoes.

And I know that my nose knows

how to make ah-choooooos.

Whales don’t come from Wales,

is it rite or is it right?

And who can tell the difference

between quiet or quite?

Angle grinders not ankle grinders,

it’s so easy to make a slip—

because English is really funny

and tries to make you trip.

Eggcitement! by James Aitchison

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I hear a hip and hop,
it’s very, very near,
and I know who it is —
he comes this time of year.

I’ve never ever seen him
as he hastens here and there;
the Easter Bunny’s hiding eggs 
and he won’t tell us where. 

He puts them under bushes,
and up in trees somewhere,
but my friends and I will find them
and we’ll have lots to share!

Photo by Alexas Fotos

Forever And A Day by Warren Cox

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So still so cool so quiet
beneath our favourite tree.
A secret place the two of us,
just my dad and me.

Sheltered from the outside
by the stories he’d recite.
Magic words that lived on
in the tranquil dreams of night.

And I believed in magic.
Too young to comprehend.
Too innocent to think that
this – my world could ever end.

As we sat within the quiet.
“Please dad” I tried to say.

“Can we please sit here just like this,
forever and a day?”


He was trying hard to tell me
just why he couldn’t stay.
he said, “But I’ll still love you
forever and a day.”

“See – your mum and I have spoken
and I have to go away.
But I will always love you
forever and a day.”

I didn’t understand of course,
all that he had to say.
But I knew my heart would ache for him
forever and a day.