OUR POETRY

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1930, Page 8 (Supplement)

OUR POETRY

SECRETS. (Sent by Doris Aubrey.) “Oh, black blackbird, with the yellow yellow ‘beak, “You’d tell me why it’s yellow, if only you could speak.” “I’ll tell you why it’s yellow, though I can only sing; ■' “I dipped it in a crocus on the first day of spring.” ‘Oh, blue bluebell, on the first summer day, “You’d tell me why your bell s blue if only you could speak.” “I’ll tell you why my bell’s blue, though I can only ring; “A- dragon-fly has brushed it with his bright new Xving.” BUTTERFLIES. , (Sent by Eddie /'Robson.) See the butterflies at play, In the sun, Dressed in colours bright and gay Every one; White and yellow, brown and' red, Flutter by, Here’s another overhead, - Flying high. .; Stay a moment, pretty things,' ’Ere you pass; Spread your lovely shining wings, On the grass. We won’t hurt you if we run After you; Don’t be frightened, it’s for fun, When we do. .' ' THE RABBITS. Little fairy rabbits, keep very, very ; still, ' ', ' And peer at me across the grass, As I walk up the hill!And if I venture nearer i . . To join them in their play, A flash of white and they are gone Not one-of them will stay; 'MY DOG SPOT. ' (Sent by Cora Andrews.)' I have a white dog, whose name is .' ' .Spot,- - :. 1 • :. :, , • •And he’s, sometimes white and he s ’sometimes not. -.. / .. But, whether lie’s, white or whether - he’s not, ".. I'- ’ . . I ■, patch on his ear that makes him Spot. . ' ’ He has a tongue that is long and pink, ■ i j And he lolls it out when, he wants to think. 0e seems to think most when the weather is hot; , He’s a wise sort of dog, is my dog Spot. ■ I H He likes a 'bone and he likes a bail, But he doesn’t care for a cat at all. He. waggles his tail and; he .knows . what’s what, • ' ■'< ' „. . So I’m glad he’s my dog, my dog Spot. TEN WHITE DICKY-DUCKS.

(Sent by Irene Andrews.) ■ All across the farmyard,, marching off . they go, Ten white dicky ducks, all in a row. ' “We will go a-swimming and we . won’t come back. , ’ ■ “What a fine day it is! Quack! Quack! Quack! • ' ' All across the meadow, through the hedge beyond, Ten white dicky ducks, plump in a pond. j'” ' We will stay a-swimming, and we , .won’t come back. _ "Whit a fine pond, it ,is! Quack. ’ . - Quack! Quack! . • ’ Back across the farmyard, not so very fast, . r ' Ten tired dicky ducks come back at last. “We do feel so hungry and we have come back, . ■ » “Very tired dieky ducks! Quack! Quackh Quack!

“ISEA FEVER.” '' 1 ' (Sent by Ethel Batley.) .. I must go down to the sea again, To the lonely sea and the sky. And all I ask is a tail ship And a star to steer her by, , And the wheel’s kick and the wind s song. And the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist oh the sea’s face, And a grey dawn breaking. . I must go . down to the seas again, For the call of the running tide Is a wild cal! and a clear call, . That may not be denied. And all I ask ~is a windy day, With the'white clouds flying,. And the flying spray and the blown spume, And the seagulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, To the vagrant gypsy life, , . , To the* gull’s way and the Whale s -way, I 'Where the wind’s like a whetted ■ ■’ knife; ■■ And.all I ask is a merry yarn, From a laughing fellow rover, And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream, When the long trek’s over. j THE- BOY WITH THE -LITTLE BARE , TOES. '■ ■ , (Sent by “Scarlet Pimpernell.”)' He 'ran all down the meadow, that. ' ' he did, ; The boy with the little bare toes. The flowers they kmelt so eweet, so sweets And the grass it felt so funny and wet, ' - , ... And the birds they, sang just like this—“chcereep,’” , And the willow trees stood in rows. .‘•Ho! Ho!” laughed the boy with the . little bare toes. And the trees had no insides, how funny! Laughed the boy with the little bare toes.' And he put in his hand to find some money, Or honey —“y es > that would he best, oh! best! ' But' what do you think he found, found, found ? . ... Why, six littje eggs, all round, round, round. And a mother bird on the nest. Oh, yes! A rhot'her bird on her nest. He laughed, “Ha'! Ha!” and he laughed, “He! He!” . The boy with the little bare toes. But the little mother bird got up frbm her place And flew right into 'his face,- “Ho! ■ Ho!” Apd pecked him on the nose, oh! oh! Yeh pecked him right on the nose; Boo! Boo!” cried the boy with, the little bare toes. ■'. . ■ I LITTLE BILL SHOULD DIET. (Sent by Veta Mowat.) He went through the hole over two hours ago. “You stay here,” he said, “and keep cave.” So I pushed him through and I said, ■ “Don’t be long!” And I thought, “What a man! And how brave!” Over two hours ago, and I’m feeling quite cold, When I think what’s happened to 'Pat. I think I’d go too, and just see what was wrong. , If only I wasn’t so fat!

POOR SOLOMA-V GRUNDY. (’Sent by Mervyn Fabish.) (Poor Soloman Grundy was born on a Monday, Christened on a Tuesday, Married on a Wednesday, Took ill on a Thursday, Worse on Friday, Dead on Saturday, Buried on ’Sunddy, And - that was the end of poor Soloman Grundy. PANSY DEAR. (Sent by Molly Jones.) Pansy dear, ' Welcome 'here! ' Flowers of pure delight. Pansy dear, Thrive .here! Make our garden bright. Pansy dear, Wither here, And scatter memories left and right. AT THE ZOO. (Sent 'by .Irene Humphries.) Last Monday, for my Easter treat, Dad took mo to the Zoo, And there I saw a parakeet, And a pretty cockatoo. I rode upon a camel’s back, And an el’phant’s, too. ' , I saw a zebra, white and black, And a jumping kangaroo!' I liked the monkeys best of all. So mischievous were they, One seized a poor old lady’s shawl, And whisked it right away. Another snatched a baby’s cloak, , Then put_.it on askew. - Oh, yes, they were the greatest joke, Those monkeys at the Zoo/ ...; FAIRY MONEY. (Sent by Olive Say well.) Fancy finding fairy money, In your pocket by mistake. Everything you bought would change T 0... things of fairy make. I should hurry to the station, •; With my money 1 in my hand, And inquire the price of tickets, Straight to Fairyland. . . - FLOWERS OF DARKNESS. . The stars are little daisies white, That spangle all the fields ,at night, While I lie in my bed. The moon is a great golden rose, That every night more glorious grows, So high above my head. Along the dim deserted street, The lamps shine bravely, tall and neat. , ? ’ " The daffodils of night. And all the little lights that glow, In people’s houses, down below, Are jasmine flowers White! When, the flowers of the day, ■ / Are fast asleep, these others stay,To make the darkness bright. THE NEWT; (Sent by Irene Saywell.) “It's a newt! It’s a newt!” . Cried the children, all three. Said the newt, “Why on earth “Are they fishing for me? “I’m nothing to look at, “I’m no good to eat.” Cried Bet, “You’re a beauty!’’ Said Jonie, “How sweet!”. “Much obliged, much obliged,” (With a sort of salute), “But a beauty I’m not, “Never was,” said the newt. (Sent -by Joyce; Kelly.) When., the -sun shines -through the leaves Of the apple tree, When I pass, on the grass, From one leaf to another, From one leaf to its brother. Tip toe, tip toe! Here I go! THEN. ' '' ’ •

(Sent by Wa'lly Winstanley.) Twenty, fourty, sixty, eighty, A hundred years ago, . All through the night, With lantern bright The watch strode to and fro. And little boys tucked ayvay in bed. Would wake from dreams to hear, “Two o’ the morning, l by the clock, “And the stars are shining clear.”'. Or when across’ the chimney tops, Screamed the shrill north-east gale, A faint and shaken voice would shout, “Three, and a storm of hail!” (Sent by Ronald Parker.) Dolly wants to pick a rose. How she’ll do it no one knows. ;. Dolly is so very small, And the rose tree is so tall. Perhaps if she could grow. a bit,. Dolly might reach up to it. But' I’ve had her quite a year, , She hasn’t grown an inch, poor dear. I don’t think that she can do it, I shall,-have to help (her through, it. So I ought, because, you see, I’m her • Mother, And Mother helps me. ■ ' . WHERE GO- THE BOATS. (Sent by Maisie , Robertson.)' . Dark brown is the river, . . Golden is the sand; . ■lt flows along for ever, , With trees on either hand. • Green leaves a-floating, ■ ■ Castles of the foam; . Boats of mine a-boating— Where will all come,home? On goes the river, ' <(; ' •; And out past the mill, Away down the valley, Away dbwn the hill. 1 . Away down the river,' .' A hundred miles or, more, Other little children,/ ■ .(• Shall bring my bbats ashore. (Sent by Nancy Knowles.) “Oh, dear! How fast the children -grow,” i y , , • Cried worried Mrs. IBunny. 1 (' “I have to 'buy some boots for them, “With'hardly any money. “In fact, I’ve only half a crown “Inside my well-worn purse.” ’ “Oh, never mind,” the children cried, “It really might 'be worse. • “Don’t spend it please, on' getting boots,' : .. .>■■, 11 .'' ■ “For all of us, for, oh! X “We’d so much rather be without—‘‘Most rabbits are, you know.” So Mrs .Bunny went and bought • Some lettuces instead, On which her children gaily supped, Before they went to bed. „ THE FAIRY TAILOR. (Sent by Eric Hodges.) , Sitting on the flower-bed, beneath the hollyhocks, I spied the tiny tailor, who makes ' the fairies’ frocks. ' \ There he sat a-stitching all the afternoon, And sang a little ditty to a quaint wee tune; “Grey for the goblins, blue for the elves, . '“Brown for the little gnomes that' live by themselves; “White for the pixies that dance upon the green, “But where shall I find a robe to deck the Fairy Queen?” THE BLACKBIRD. (Sent by “Little Red Riding Hood.”) In the corner close by the swings, Every morning a blackbird sings. His bill’s so yellow, his coat so black, That he makes a fellow whistle back. Ann, m.y playmate, thinks that he sings, For us two by the swings.

A GRUMBLE IN A GARDEN. (Sent by lan Scott.) Because the birds won’t let alone Our seeds until they grow, My father’s stuck up on a stick A terrible “scarecrow.” What good the thing Does there, so far, I’m sure I cannot see;; It doesn’t scare the birds a bit— But oh! It does scare me. (BY THE BROOK. (Sent by Valerie Whittlcston.) Up in the air the wild birds fly, (Happy and swift and free. In the green fields the sheep and cows Browse ’neatfo. the shady tree. Over the stream, now here, now there, Dart dragon flies, to and fro. Down in the depths, so dark and cool The silvery fishes go. THE LAZY FAIRY. (Sent (by “'Huia.’O There was a tfoolish fairy, Who was far too fond of deep. At any moment of the day, . Into her’ bed she’d creep. 1 She missed a Christmas party, A New Year party, too/ And once—you’ll scarce believe mb— She slept her birthday through, MY BIRTHDAY. < (Sent by Phyllis Spranger.) , The morning dawned bright and gay, . The twelfth of December was my birthday, • , With stacks of books and toys, All nice things for girls and boys. Mother made a cake with candles red and blue, Oh! What a merry birthday, it was - . true. , Some friends gave me sweeties, some i. gave me toys, Others gave me 'surprise boxes, aiid things ,of joys. Beauty comes on a birthday, I’m waiting to return those presents in some thoughtful way. -. “WHERE DO YOU LiyE?*(Sent by Effie Baldwin.) -1. know a little boy with a smiling face; /. He lives, I hear, in Sunshine Place. And I 'can well believe it’s true, And if ypu saw him, so would you. There’s sunshine in his merry eyes, To do his best he always tries; He’s fond 'Of., work as well as play, And happy all the livelong day. Another little 'boy I know, ‘ He lives they say, in Frowning Row. He scarcely ever wears a smile, And grumbles nearly all the while. And if his way is not allowed, He looks just like a thunder cloud; He soon would change that sorry face If he would live in Sunshine Place. THE CANDLE.', j.. (Sent by C. Johnson.) ’■ The candle’s like a little knight, With golden helmet shining bright. And though my room is high and dim, I never feel afraid of him. ■' .. For often when I think I see Black goblin-folk, who stare at me, He draws a circle round about, And keeps the prying goblins out. LITTLE, (BILL. (Sent by ißenee Fetch.) If I were a little mouse, I’d have a mouse’s hole. I’d rent it in a pastry-cook's, And live on sausage roll. ' ./If I stay a, little boy, I’ll get some jam for tea. Now, which I wonder would be best, To wish a chap could be?

A LITTLE BOYIS DREAM. (Sent by ,Nancy Knowles.); , A little boy was dreaming, . , Upon his mother’s lap, Thit the pins fell out of all the stars, And, the stars fell into his cap. So when his dream was over, What did that little boy do? He went and looked' inside his cap, And found it was not true.? / ♦ . WELL BROUGHT Up. >. -

(Sent by Sylvia Manning.) J /I want to bring up Dolly well, Like Mummy brings up pie, So now I wash her face and hands Before she has her tea. But, oh! Her face is 1 one big smudge. The towels are black and red.. I almost wish I’d let her stay All grubby like instead. ■ ■■■ p’raps she’s got the measles bad.. And ought to go to bed. ';' ■ ■ A FUNNY RIDDLE. (Sent 'by Chrissie Stewarts) Why did the fly fly ? /•' " Perhaps you know why .. I notice your smile’s growing- wider ! You’re thinking about . : - Miss Mullet, no doubt, _ Because the cross spider had spied ’er!