Category Archives: Poem of the Day
Words by Dianne Bates
Leave a commentWords
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 Bates
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.
Magic Making by Jenny Erlanger
Leave a commentMagic Making
Half a slug, a beetle’s bum,
a spoon of slime, a cup of scum,
a centipede, a rotten plum,
my special, magic tea.
A final pinch of possum poo
and that completes my witch’s brew
but as to what this brew will do…
Here, try some and we’ll see.
Jenny Erlanger
Beach Cones by Monty Edwards
Leave a commentBeach cones
The shapes I like are conical. They taper to the tip.
Perhaps you’ve seen some shells like that when going for a dip.
Such shells are very pretty and they’re great fun to collect:
Their range of colours, streaks and spots – much more than you’d expect!
While at the beach you may well see a different kind of cone:
Far bigger, in a lifeguard’s hand, it’s called a megaphone.
Through this his booming voice is heard to call us back to shore.
It’s warning us of danger we’d be foolish to ignore.
When heading home, our swimming done, one final cone I eat.
I’m sure you’ve guessed just what it is, so icy cold and sweet!
Then as I lick the one I pick, my tongue can taste and test.
Of all the cones I’ve ever known, I like an ice-cream best!
Monty Edwards
Monty says: With no clear direction, I made a list of shapes, along with articles that either embodied them or words that rhymed with them. I wanted to avoid the familiar square/cube and circle/sphere and work with something specific that was less common and also three dimensional. From my list of words and ideas the resources for a seaside scenario emerged featuring the cone.
Family Tree by Bill Condon
Leave a commentFamily tree
The mother was a ghost gum,
a really terrific tree-mum.
The father was a noble oak,
a shining prince of tree-dom.
You’d think with a family tree like that,
the offshoot would have to be a winner.
Instead he was a toothpick,
who lived in fear of dinner.
Bill Condon
Bill says: I wrote this years ago when I was very silly. Nothing’s changed.
The Holiday is Over by Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti
Leave a commentThe holiday is over
Bone tired
Mum bends over yawning suitcases;
sorts by colour
the jumble
of sea-scented clothes.
The groaning washer
shudders in sympathy
as tiny souvenir shells
swim from sand-peppered pockets
to tinkle and swirl
in foreign
lemon-boosted foam.
Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti
- First published in The School Magazine (Touchdown, April 2011)
And Interview With T by Vivienne Nicoll-Hatton
Leave a commentAn Interview with T
You really want to know about me?
I’m not too ordinary for you?
I mean, I’m everywhere.
Even in Scrabble, my tiles are worth one, not two!
I like to keep slim, like my friends I.
E & F, and L, too,
Though they all look a bit unbalanced to me.
My horizontal hat is beautifully symmetrical.
You have noticed, haven’t you?
Being the 20th letter and so towards the end of the alphabet
means nothing!
I am the most frequently used letter
after those vowels, a, e, I and u.
And I’m not fussy about where I go inside a word,
Beginning, middle or end, doubled, to name just a few.
I’m a bit of a softy,
or at least the sound I represent is.
Toddlers can speak it by the age of two,
A gentle tap of the tongue to the roof of the mouth, behind the front teeth,
But don’t use your voice, you’ll get my cousin D’s sound if you do!
Do other letters want to hang about with me?
Yes, there are a few.
There are the vowels, and also some consonants
H is probably my best friend, because when he’s beside me to the left
We do this weird thing with G, you know, eight, night, and tight.
But when you put him to my right, we represent another sound, no, two.
Listen: TH: with voice we make they, their, there, they’re, and those.
Now listen again, TH: without voice we make thick, thin, thunder, through
Sufficient information, you say!
That’s fine. I know I’m a bit talkative.
But how many words within this little poem am I, your humble servant T, not in!
Count, I dare you to!
Vivienne Nicoll-Hatton
Vivienne says: I love poetry and am particularly concerned that we can get kids interested both in reading it, and then, later, writing it.
I also have an interest in English orthography: boring to many others, but not me. Hence my contribution.
A Kite’s Tail by Pat Simmons
Leave a comment
- Submitted in response to Poetry Prompt #3
T for Tree by Virginia Lowe
Leave a commentT for Tree
Straight trunk
Typical tree
Outstretched arms
Thick canopy
Leaves trap the sun
brilliant green
Dark brown trunk
A child’s drawing
Burnished silver
Polished gum
Dead, but shining
in the morning sun
Froth of regrowth
at its roots
Towers a silver
toasting fork
Branches curve tortuous
weaving and gliding
starting way up
the tall straight trunk
the architecture
fully exposed.
Architecture exposed,
even living.
Dull eucalypt green
Narrow leaves
loosely bunched
hang down to escape
the sun’s rays
Trunk bright pink-gold
Burnished by
morning sun
Huge animals
that hopped
Egg-laying mammals
with duck bills
The first Europeans
couldn’t believe
their own eyes
Painted what
they longed to see
Dark trunk
outstretched branches
thick canopy
typical (Northern) tree
starting with T.
Virginia Lowe
Virginia says: I spent the first weeks of January in the mountains, Falls Creek (about 40 friends took over a ski lodge). Falls Creek was in the middle of a bushfire about 12 years ago, and is surrounded by bleached white dead trees – sad, but beautiful – and regrowing. I had several phrases in my mind, and the letter T sparked off contemplation about the comparison between Northern and Southern Hemisphere trees, and reactions to them. It is my usual blank verse, short lines, with some half rhymes thrown in.