A selection of rhymes, mostly published in various publications and sites...
MR WHIPPY
When kids hear the ice cream van
tinkling through the streets,
they know that Mr Whippy
is bringing frozen treats.
When parents hear the music,
they know they’ll have to pay,
they’d rather Mr Whippy
did not come every day!
(published on Australian Children's Poetry website)
ALGORITHMS
The internet is driven
by clever algorithms,
they make things happen when online.
But though the algorithms
may have a little rhythm,
they don’t have an awful lot of rhyme.
RAIN AGAIN
Rain has been
and gone again
Grass is green
and high again
Leaves are splashed
then dry again
Sky returns
to blue again
Birds come out
to fly again
Silver streams
run by again
Sun peeps down
on you again …
Then it starts to rain again!
ODE TO WINTER
Season of roasts
and soups
and slow-cooked stew -
ah, winter,
we love you!
(Sorry, John!)
(Above three published in The Dirigible Balloon)
RIDDLE
What go up
and then go down,
yet never, ever
leave the ground?
Answer:
up
go
STAIRS can never leave the ground
go
down
POETIC LICENCE
This is to certify that (INSERT NAME)
is duly licensed to RHYME:
Rain or shine
In any clime
By design (or not)
FAILURE TO RHYME
At any time
Is a crime
And will attract a fine
By order of the
METROPOLITAN RHYMING AUTHORITY
Sign
on the ………………………………
Published in The Dirigible Balloon
A SENSE OF RHYTHM
There’s a poem in my mind
on a marathon run,
beating my brain with a rum, tum tum,
hammering my head like a pounding drum.
It hasn’t got a subject,
it hasn’t got a name,
just a rhythm that is driven
by a mind insane.
I wish it would stop,
I wish it would end,
jiving and driving
me round the bend.
But it won’t let me go,
it won’t let me be
‘till I write it all out
and set it all free.
So that’s what I’m doing,
that’s what I’ve done -
Now it’s beating your brain with a rum tum tum.
Hammering your head like a pounding drum.
Rum tippy tum tippy rum tum tum…
Rum tippy tum tippy …
(Sorry!)
Published in The Dirigible Balloon
Sea Stars
Once they were called Starfish,
but now they’ve changed their name.
Turns out they’re not a fish at all,
so their name can’t stay the same.
Starfish don’t have fishy bits,
like gills or scales or fins,
instead they are echinoderms -
that means they’re sea urchins.
But whatever you want to call them,
forever floating in the sea,
whether it’s ‘Seastar’ or ‘Starfish’ -
STARS they’ll always be.
(Published in Parakeet and Poetry Zoo, Australian Science Week 2024)
Not A Dinosaur
If a Thesaurus
came before us
would it claw us
or even gnaw us
the moment that it saw us?
Not really.
It’s full up with words
and much more likely
just to ignore us.
(published in The Dirigible Balloon)
Rainbows
I’d like to know
where rainbows go
when they disappear.
Do they fly
across the sky?
Are they far or near?
Are they gone forever,
or do they come again?
Or is there a bright new bow
after every rain?
(Published in The Toy)
Magic Lantern Man
Over the mountains and under the sky,
With the sun at his back and the wind in his eye,
They call him the magic lantern man,
And wherever he goes,
Everyone knows
There’ll soon be a show.
Lamps and candles,
Songs and tales,
An old oil can,
Some dreams for sale –
Magic Lantern Man.
His pictures glow upon thin air
And colour the lantern’s smoky glare.
The songs he sings and the tales he spins
Bind the children tight
In the flickering light
All through the night.
Lamps and candles,
Songs and tales,
An old oil can,
Some dreams for sale –
Magic Lantern Man.
Next morning the magic lantern man
Packs up his dreams and his old oil can.
He fades back into the sun and the sky,
But where he goes
Nobody knows
Till the next lantern show.
Lamps and candles,
Songs and tales,
An old oil can,
Some dreams for sale –
Magic Lantern Man.
(published in Tyger, Tyger)
The Cyclone Kid
Faster than a rocket,
or a speeding bullet train,
the Cyclone Kid streaks down the street
then whizzes back again.
His legs are pounding pistons,
his feet just fly away
as he whooshes wildly up and down
his personal speedway.
There seems no way to stop him,
but there’s one thing you can do:
just shout out loud ‘chocolate cake’
and he’ll race right up to you.
(published in The Dirigible Balloon)
Robot, Robot
Robot, robot shining bright,
whirring ever through the night.
What immortal hand or eye
could frame thy fearful circuitry?
(Apologies to William Blake)
(published in The Dirigible Balloon)
The Umbrella of Invisibility
You put it up
and before you know it,
you completely disappear,
as if by magic, just as though
you were never here.
You close it down
and in a twinkle,
there you are again.
Good to see you back in view,
hope it doesn’t rain!
(published in The Dirigible Balloon)
The Case of the Pea Green Boat
Took a missing persons call
about a fowl and a feline.
Went to investigate where the bong tree grows.
Found a pig without a ring in its nose,
and a shilling in its possession.
Questioned a turkey on the hill.
Found evidence of an eaten meal
and some kind of spoon.
Suspicious.
Located a pea green boat on the beach.
Empty
except for an old guitar
and some honey.
Sticky.
The night was bright,
with a full moon,
but no sign of a fowl or a feline.
Case closed.
(published in The Dirigible Balloon)
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