MR. MOON

Timaru Herald, Volume CL, Issue 22043, 16 August 1941, Page 9

MR. MOON

O Mr Moon, how far away Are you to-night? And why are you not still alight By day, Dear Mr Moon? Now tell me, pray. Why is it I can look at you, .But not. the sun? And must my wish be only one? Or two? — (Dear Mr Moon, When you are new? They tell me that you are not flat, But like a ball. Then have you met a thing they call A bat, Dear Mr Moon? Pray, tell me that. And what is on the other side Of what I see? Could you just whisper it to me If I’d, Dear Mr Moon, My window wide? When you are just a quarter, where Is all the rest? And which star do you like the best Up there, Dear Mr Moon? Or don’t you care. What is it keeps you in the sky, So safe and still? Why don’t you ever tumble? Will You try, Dear Mr Moon? To tell me why. Or if you think it ought to be . A little note, I’d like to say the moon had wrote To me, Dear Mr Moon. So I agree. (Sent By Ama Belfer, age 12.) NIGHT ; i Twilight is falling, the sun sinks low, The last birds are calling, as home they ■ go. The air is so still, just a faint breeze •Stirs, From a distant windmill come a few muffled "whirrs.” The trees are silhouetted, against a - "'fcloudless sky. Some flowers nod gently which grow .nearby. The whine of a dog cuts through the still night, It sounds very eerie when no-one’s in sight. But now light is fading, darkness draws near, And in the sky, moon and stai-s do appear, Its silver beams tint the water with light, Everything's still on a pure summer’s night. (5 Marks to Margaret Page, age 10.) THE BIRD’S NEST On a bough in a birch tree Lay a brown and withered nest, It was tidy and soft For the young birds to rest. , It was lined with some feathers, -Which formed as a wall, And long bits of straw, Which were clumsy, to haul. I looked at it closely. And peeped inside, And there were some birds That had recently died. J felt sad when I saw them, k For they looked very sweet. Their feathers were brown, And they had tiny feet. (3 Marks to Isabel Butler, age 12.) WINTER TIME W. stands for winter, the time we all hate. I is for Ivan, who is swinging on the gate. N is for Naomi, the dunce of them all. T is for Ted, who is still very small. E stands for Edna, who is the top of the clasp. R stands for Ronald, who can run very . fast. T stands for Timothy, a naughty little child. I stands for lan, who is looking very mild. M stands for Margaret, whose wedding’s to-day. E is for Edith, who is coming to stay. (3 Marks to Doris Butler, age 11, Fairview.) THE BRITISH Brave and daring are the British, They always fight till the finish, If a Messerschmitt comes over-head A spitfire shoots and it drops like lead. In the army the soldiers are the same, They never shirk but they always play the game, Even Hitler cannot tell Why our soldiers do so well. Battle-ships, cruisers, submarines and all, Guard the British Isles like a great stone wall, All through the weather, wet or fine, They go out looking for a stray German mine. (3 Marks to June Carlton, age 14.) ARBOR DAY Arbor Day is a name applied to a day appointed for the public planting of trees. Originating, or at least being first successfully put into operation, in Nebraska, U.S.A., in 1872 through the instrumentality of Mr J. Sterling Morton, then president of the State Board of Agriculture, it received official sanction by the proclamation of Governor ft. W. Furnas in 1874 and by enactment of it in 1875 as a legal holiday in Nebraska. The movenment spread rapidly throughout the United States until with hardly an exception every state and territory celebrates such a day either as a legal or school holiday. The time of celebration varies in different parts.