

Ready to Rhyme
I find when I am writing,
I oft resort to rhyme.
I don’t know why I do it.
It happens all the time.
But if you like my writing,
(I really hope you will),
You’ll find that I keep writing
In rhyming verses still!
First published in “The Mystery Box” (Playful poems for young readers) by Monty Edwards [Making Magic Happen Academy 2017].
Who’s there… ?
The wind howls.
Tree knuckles rap.
Long fingered twig hands
Tap. Tap. Tap…
Hours slide
Down the walls.
Moonlight pools
Where teardrops fall.
Sheets bind tight,
Having care
No one escapes
Nightmares.
“Who’s outside?
Who’s there…?”
Standing beside you,
A shadowy fear.
Am I sleeping?
Did I wake?
Is this the form
That bad dreams take?
What’s that rustle…?
Pad, pad, pad,
“It’s okay, honey!”
It’s Mum and Dad!
TEACHER NOTES:
This rhyming poem deals with irrationality of some childhood fears, using poetic devices, which include transferred epithet, onomatopoeia, internal rhyme, alliteration and consonance. Other fears can be based on superstitions, or on some historical antecedents or cultural based taboos.
Hilaire Belloc’s cautionary tales use fear tinged with humor to warn against certain behaviors. Grimm’s Fairy Tales have been described as cautionary tales using the horror of the unknown to warn children away from potential danger.
Discussion: Do such ‘cautionary tales’ have that effect today on modern children? Are there modern examples of cautionary tales? Name some.
Activity: Rewrite a poem by Hilaire Belloc as a prose story OR retell a Grimm’s Fairy Tale as a narrative verse story. Use some of the poetic devices used in “Who’s there…?” in your retelling.
2019 THE YEAR OF THE PIG
A lunar year
Puts the earth in the centre
Measures time
As the moon goes round
Different way of thinking
Chinese New Year
2019
The Fifth Day of February.
Chinese Jade Emperor
Organised a race
First to reach the Celestial Palace
Would be first to guard
The Heavenly Gate
Twelve animals had a river to cross.
Rat said to Ox
You do the swimming
I’ll sit on your ear
Just to be sure the way is clear.
Rat cheated.
Won first place
Generous Ox did not mind at all
Tiger and Rabbit tried hard to win
Tiger beat Rabbit for Third
Dragon was fifth.
Jade Emperor said: Where is your son?
Snake replied: I’m the one.
Snake was sixth
Horse and Goat arrived together
Horse was Seventh.
Goat was Eighth
Monkey came leaping in
To be Ninth
What a racket.
What a din!!!
Rooster was next.
Dog and Pig
Got distracted on the way
A Celestial Race
Was a time to play
Dog was Eleventh
Pig was Last.
Twelve Zodiacs
In a twelve year cycle
Born in
2007?
You will really dig
2019
Another Year of the Pig.
Living spaghetti
Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,
Here comes a nice long worm.
Like spaghetti come to life,
What a busy earthworm!
Watch it slide and slither,
Oops, it’s in a dither.
Pick it up now if you dare,
Dangle it in the air.
Wriggle wriggle, squirm squirm,
Thank you, thank you, earthworm!
You let our soil grow good things,
Such a helpful earthworm!
IS IT A ZED OR A ZEE?
You say Potarto, I say potayto
You say tomarto and ! say tomayto
Some say Zed and some say Zee
It makes no difference, not to me.
I dreamt I went to the Zoo last night
At the end of the alphabet – I had a real fright.
Dreaming, I found the A’s B’s and C’s
and continued on past the M, N, O, P’s
I followed the way to things starting with Zed
Then all those letters just went to my head
(I had plenty of time – dream visits are free)
A stripey horse whinnied and said – I’m a Zee.
We’re the cleverest animals in all the Zoo
Let me explain to you clearly just who is who.
This is family stuff, so you must pay attention
Zedzees can appear in any dimension
We’re a family that’s full of multiple guises
If you remember them all – there might be prizes.
My dad is a Zebra, my mother’s a Horse
That’s how I was given my name – I’m a Zorse.
That makes me special, in the Zoo I’m a feature
I’m considered to be an amazing creature.
I’m built like a Horse but I wear a striped suit
My buddies here think that I’m really cute.
If the tables were turned and a Zebra my mum
My dad would be Horse – he’d still be our chum
You might think this idea is utterly mad
The first part of my name would reflect the dad
So welcome the Horbra into our poem
And still we Zedzees have much more to show’em.
The Horbra has stripes – you don’t know where they’ll be
Could be the neck, on the back or the knee.
His patches are stripey on a background plain
So many patterns, it’s really insane.
Each Horbra is diff’rent, unique to behold
Known for his strength and inclined to be bold.
Now – back to the Zorse, you remember of course
That he’s the offspring of Zebra and Horse
He has other names, too, and I’ll tell you a few
Zebrula, Zebrule, Zebra Mule – will that do?
The Horbra by more names can also be met
Such as Hebra, Zebrinny and even Zebret.
Have you thought of the mating of Zebra with Pony?
You’ll not be surprised, their offspring’s a Zony!
Now, if you’re not feeling dizzy, woozy or wonky
We’ll talk of the offspring of Zebra and Donkey:
Called Zebadonk, Zebrass, Zebrinny, Zebrilla
Zebonkey, Zebonk and Zonkey – the killer!
Altogether these beauties are known as Zebroid
With so many names they must always feel buoyed
Starting as donkeys, asses and zebras and horses
These all are examples of natural forces.
When you go the Zoo, start at alphabet’s ending
And you’ll see how glorious is Nature’s blending.
It’s not a load of rubbish.
No matter how much we ignore it,
No matter how much we look away,
Rubbish is part of our society
It’s sadly here to stay.
So don’t wrinkle your nose up,
Don’t just say ‘I quit!’
It’s time we took more control
And learned to manage it.
We need to remember
There are but few places it can go,
In the air, in the earth,
Or in oceans and waterways below.
So organise your garbage,
Recycle what you can,
Steer away from ‘disposables’,
And give excess packaging a ‘ban’.
Re-use that wrapping paper,
Give that compost heap a go,
Learn to live with less
And think more about what you throw.