Word is a word
that rhymes with word.
But what about cord,
and ford and sword?
They don’t rhyme with word,
as you’ve no doubt heard.
How come English is so erratic,
so hard to learn and problematic?
My word, I wish I knew!
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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.
In my head
Words are running around
Pushing and shoving
Trying to get out
Use me first
No, use me first.
That’s
Enough
I
Say
Please
Form
A
Nice
Orderly
Queue
Thank
You
Very
Much
A queue of curious pelicans
A cue of queueious pelicans
The English language
Never ceases
To amaze
And amuse
Mother counted sixty four
swans and pelicans
on Lake Colac once
when I was a child
in the days
when the lake
was full
before
climate
change
hit.
Virginia says: I wrote this poem for exactly the reasons given in the poem. The memory, and amusement at ‘curious’ and ‘queue’.
Kudos to the queue – not cue
(for that’s a hint or hit for billiard ball)
Kudos to the queue – not coupe
(for that’s a shock surprise for city hall)
Kudos to the queue – not coo
(for that’s what doves and grannies tend to do)
Kudos to the queue – not Que
(For that’s a Tassie river … yes, it’s true!)
Kudos to the queue – you knew
This had to end and now the end is due
But kudos to the queue – a row
Of sailor’s hair or pelicans you know.
Some have shaky edges
Twisting and flapping like netted fish
And the tongue is tied.
Sometimes the mouth opens and closes
like a trap.
But the best words —
The easiest words —
are bridges:
‘Be my friend,’
‘Come and play.’
Dianne says: To get to this poem, I brain-stormed a variety of shapes (geometric shapes, the shape of thoughts and so on) until I arrived at words. In the end I didn’t even use the word ‘shape’; it simply acted as a starting point.
Australian Children’s Poetry 