KICKFLIPS IN VIENNA
Vienna’s railway station,
the Vienna Hauptbahnhof,
is not just very modern —
it will blow your socks right off!
The roofs go up,
the roofs go down,
the greatest ramps in town.
As trains pull in
and trains pull out,
you can slide on down.
Achtung, achtung!
Do an ollie!
Then a darkslide,
Ja, ja, ja!
Goofy-Foot and fakie next,
Vienna’s station is the best!
Translation note: in German, a Hauptbahnof is a city’s main train station.
The paper boy
A boy on a bike
through leafy streets
delivers the papers
while we are asleep.
Who hears the squeak
of his speeding wheels?
Not us, not us,
for we are asleep.
Who sees the sun
glint on silver spokes?
Not us, not us,
for we are asleep.
The paper lands
with a thud beside
a garden gnome
who peeks inside.
How well-informed
is that old gnome!
How lazy am I
in my bed at home!
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!
A SUMMER OTTAVA RIMA
The crash of waves is always in the air,
And caravans adorn the crowded shore.
People roast on towels without a care,
Or find new rocky outcrops to explore.
Crunchy crystal sand grows too hot to bear,
Yet we stay: it’s what all Aussies yearn for!
In summertime, this is our golden place;
Then winter comes and banishes all trace.
James Aitchison
THE OTTAVA RIMA is a very rhythmic form of Italian poetry, first written in the fourteenth century.
Lord Byron and William Butler Yeats also used the form.
The rules:
Have fun!
The tale of Maximus Dunker
A golfer named Maximus Dunker
One day shot himself a real clunker.
Hit the ball in the air
but was full of despair
When it landed down in a bunker.
The octopossum
The octopossum lives by the sea;
no marine creature’s stranger than he!
A bushy tail and eight long arms,
with one big eye to complete his charms.
Even mighty whales avoid this beast;
they take one look and head nor’-nor’-east.
No shark swims near the octo-p.,
for fear the latter eats it for tea.
The octopossum can be gentle,
but one thing always drives him mental:
to avoid his rage and his grief,
we must save the Great Barrier Reef!
