Tag Archives: Warren Cox

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.   

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.

Spelling Time by Warren Cox

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My very favourite time in class
is when we’re having spelling.
‘Cause that’s the time our teacher’s face
turns red from constant yelling.

“Those words were in your homework.
Ten times you wrote them out.
This class will be the end of me.
Why must you make me shout?

I’ll telephone your parents.
Your nonsense will be ended.
I’ll send you to the Principal
and have you all suspended.

I’ll ban you from the library.
There’ll be no more free reading.
Until you prove to me that
with your homework you’re succeeding.

No class time toilet visits.
You’ll have to just be strong.
No music, art, or play time
when you get your spellings wrong.

By now the teacher’s pacing.
His breathing is quite fast.
And all the kids are placing bets
on how long he can last.

Then finally it’s over
and he sits down at his table.
We know he’d like to say some more
but right now he’s not able.

That’s when we all begin to clap
And “Bravo !” someone shouts.
We’ll all do better next time Sir.
Of that there are no doubts.

The teacher asks “You promise?
In that case I’ll stop yelling.”
Oh yes! My favourite time in class
is when we’re having spelling.

Have You Ever? by Warren Cox

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Have you ever seen a turtle swimming with a whale?
Have you ever seen an elephant dancing with a snail?
Have you ever seen a grasshopper hopping with a frog?
Or a big fat walrus barking like a dog?

Have you ever seen a wagtail without a tail to wag?
Have you ever seen a hippo and a rhino playing tag?
Have you ever seen a kookaburra eating Christmas cake?
Or a lion and a tiger, laughing at a snake?

Have you ever seen a billy goat flying through the air?
Have you ever seen an alligator sitting on a chair?
Have you ever seen a goldfish splashing in your pool?
Or a baa baa black sheep on its way to school?

Have you ever seen an emu nesting in a tree?
Have you ever seen a butterfly bathing with a bee?
Have you ever seen a panda bear sliding on a sled?
Or a big bad wolf standing on its head?

Have you ever seen a rooster slipping down a slide?
Have you ever seen a peacock at the sea-side?
Have you ever seen a kitten give a puppy dog a hug?
Or a huge great dane shaking paws with a pug?

Have you ever seen a monkey dressed up like a clown
Have you ever seen a kangaroo hanging upside down?
Have you ever seen a rabbit thumb its nose at a fox
Or a two humped camel with its head inside a box

If you’ve never watched a wombat make dinner for a goat,
or a rooster and a rabbit drinking coffee on a boat.
If you’ve never seen a turkey doing ballet with a duck,
then I’ve got to say, “Dear children, you are just plain out of luck.”

A Poem by Warren Cox

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a poem can be quite funny

a poem can be quite sad

some poems are really sensible

while others are quite mad

some are rather silly

designed to fashion laughs

with talk of roosters ducks and geese

or large long necked giraffes

but poems can tell a story

not just be rhyming word

a poem can make your heart take flight

on strong emotions stirred

a poem can give you pleasure

wonderous and sublime

of which there is no measure

take you to another time

and poems belong to everyone

just follow where they lead

turn the page and there they are

in thought word and deed

for poetry is ancient

a timeless limitless cloak

of thoughts and feelings infinite

as old as language spoke

Milo and I by Warren Cox

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Milo and I took a stroll through the park.
Mum said “Remember! Be home before dark.” 
We spotted a goanna hiding in the grass.
He was in our way so we couldn’t get past.

Milo can’t talk but he sure can bark.
He scared that goanna right out of the park. 
We came upon a cassowary underneath a tree.
I didn’t like the way that he was looking at me.

Milo can’t talk but he sure can bark.
He scared that bird right out of the park. 
We crept up on a snake that was resting in the shade.
It made a hissing noise and I felt quite afraid.

Milo can’t talk but he sure can bark.
He scared that snake right out of the park. 
We noticed an echidna searching for some ants,
all around the tree roots and up and down the plants.

Milo can’t talk but he sure can bark.
He scared that echidna right out of the park. 
Then I said to Milo it’s getting very dark.
It’s just about time that we were leaving this park.

But just as we’d decided we really shouldn’t stay,
who do you think was standing in our way? 
With looks on their faces that made me start to shake,
goanna, echidna, cassowary, snake.

Standing at the front and peering through the grass
was old man goanna who wouldn’t let us pass. 
And echidna and cassowary looking so mean
that my knees started knocking, what a frightening scene.

Waiting right beside them to give us such a scare
was snake with his forked tongue testing the air. 
Milo can’t talk and he couldn’t even bark.
We were both so scared we ran right out of that park!

No School Today by Warren Cox

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The rain is dancing down the street,

across the park and up the lane.

It’s teeming where I stand to meet

the clickety-clackety morning train.

The rain is hammering on the rooves

and causing such a fuss.

It’s drenching where I stand to meet

the braking quaking bus.

The rain is splashing on the ground

creating puddles deep.

To get to where I need to be

I’ve got to hop and leap.

The rain is filling all the creeks.

The gutters run with foam.

It’s wet day lunch at school today,

I think I’ll just stay home.

The Haircut by Warren Cox

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The barber said “A dollar a cut,
that’s all you have to pay.
And everyone you pass will smile
so sweetly and they’ll say,

Oh Mrs Brown what a beautiful boy,
he looks just like his dad.
Could you have guessed that you’d be blessed
with this happy and handsome lad?”

Then Mrs Brown with a frightening frown
on the barber did wildly whirl.
“Open your eyes you silly man,
he’s a girl. Can’t you see? He’s a girl!”

The Bearded Lady by Warren Cox

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My mother’s got a wicked beard.
It wasn’t there last week.
I’m not sure that I like it
but it’s certainly unique.

She took a nap the other day
and slept for just a minute,
and when she woke she found
a Willy Wagtail nesting in it.

She points at other people’s beards
and says “They all look scruffy.”
She washes hers twice every day
to keep it light and fluffy.

At first dad didn’t like it much.
He said “It isn’t funny,”
but he’s selling photos of it now
and making lots of money.

At least it’s good for sea-side trips,
it keeps us cool and shady
so I guess there’s some advantage
when your mum’s the bearded lady.

If Only by Warren Cox

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If only I could dive and swim
the way my gold fish can,
I’d travel to the sea-side
and race across the sand.

I’d dive into the largest wave
and swim far out to sea.
I’d wave “Hello” to sharks and rays
and shout “Hey! Look at me.”

But I can only paddle
where the water isn’t deep,
so I’ll have to wait ‘till dream time
‘cause I swim great in my sleep.

Photo from Pexels by Aghilles Touahri