Category Archives: Forms of Poetry

Specific poem formats

AUTUMN (Acrostic) by Louise McCarthy

Leave a comment

Autumn

After summer, the leaves of the claret ash change colour;
Upgraded are the efforts of last spring.
Temerariously, the fairies of autumn tint each leaf: rouge, tangerine, golden.
Ultimately a masterpiece, resplendent!
Merrily a gust of wind arrives with a chill, the tree shivers,
Not remembering to hold on to its marvellous cloak.

TEACHER’S REVENGE! by J R Poulter

Leave a comment

TEACHER’S REVENGE !

“Time, boys time!” the teacher said,
“Enough’s enough, now off to bed!”
At least ten minutes we stayed before
Cautiously opening the dormitory door,
Held our breath and tiptoed out.
Everyone was just about
Ready to raid the pantry when –
‘“So! Caught out red-handed then!”

Right, left, right to the dorm we went,
Each of us dreading sir’s intent –
Very grounded the rest of term or
Each of us feel the cane’s full furor!
Now we all think twice about
Going forth after lights are out!
Everyone KNOWS what waits without!

J.R.POULTER

ACROSTIC – TEACHER’S REVENGE Teacher Notes by J.R.Poulter

My father was sent to boarding school from an early age. His stories of life in a large boarding school, about what the boys got up to, inspired my acrostic.

School life today is both the same and very different.

Activity: List ways school life has not changed.
List ways in which it has changed.
Are the changes for the better or worse?
In giving you answer, write an acrostic using the word,
YES, for changes to the better, and the word, NAY, for changes for the worse.

Do You Know What I Am? by Tabitha Page

Leave a comment

Click, clack, click, clack

No, I’m not a knick-knack

Do you know what I am?

Can you do what I can?

 

Crash, clang, bang, bash

Eyes flash the cymbals smash

Put me down, see me go

Watch me give a tuneful show

 

Walking, marching, shuffling too

Do you need another clue?

 

Wind me up and I will roam

Romping, plodding through your home.

In a fancy stripy jacket,

Making such an awesome racket.

 

A very long and curly tail

Swirling like a garden snail

Brown and fluffy, squashed flat nose

Arms and legs and curly toes.

 

Do you know what I am?

Can you do what I can?

 

I am of course a children’s toy,

A lovable pal for girl or boy.

A wind-up monkey with a hat

To chase away that sneaky cat!

 

 

 

Polliwogs and Pobblebonks by Jenny Erlanger

Leave a comment

I could be quite mistaken

but I’m feeling pretty sure

that polliwog’s a word

you’ve never come across before.

And pobblebonk’s another,

with a funny kind of sound,

a word I’m also certain

you have never seen around.

They’re not a type of candy

or variety of fish.

They’re not exotic items

in some oriental dish.

They don’t have beaks or feathers

and they’re not a breed of dog.

A polliwog’s a tadpole

and a pobblebonk’s a frog.

Silvery Riddle by Celia Berrell

Leave a comment

Silvery Riddle

I will give you a smile if you care to look up

but I won’t show my face on a dark, dark night.

 

I will rule over oceans as though they are slaves

but I won’t ever say if that’s wrong or right.

 

I will make a lake’s surface a silvery spread

but I won’t share my shine when the day is bright.

 

I will block out the Sun every once-in-a-while.

My Solar Eclipse is an awesome sight!

Celia Berrell

Celia said: There was a Total Solar Eclipse over part of the USA recently.  Our Moon is 400 times smaller, yet 400 times closer than the Sun.  This precise difference makes them appear the same size from Earth.  When they line up perfectly, it can take our breath away!  Imagine what a riddle this event must have posed to people centuries ago, before we really understood the movements of the stars, planets and our silvery Moon.