Category: Uncategorized
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Autumn can seem a melancholy time – even without a pandemic hanging over us – but autumn trees and leaves offer wonderful pick-me-ups. The darker the sky, the more fiery they can look, and the wilder the wind, the more carefree their movements. Then the sun slips through and the glow of gold, bronze, brass,…
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My poem, ‘What do you do on a nature walk?’ is published – for the 4th time! – this week in A Word Full of Poems, Dorling Kindersley. My contribution, among many others: What do you do on a nature walk? We have an adventure, that’s what – crunching through the undergrowth,…
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Two tiny poems of mine, ‘Fishes’ and ‘Butterfly’, are republished this month in Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright, An Animal Poem For Every Day of the Year, a new anthology by Nosy Crow. Here are the words of my two, a cinquain and a haiku respectively: Fishes Fishes Tiny, shiny Flashing, dashing, diving Glimpses of ocean…
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For many children, starting back at school is no easy matter, especially after a long break. For some, it’s the social side that poses the biggest challenge – until they meet someone else in the same boat. Once you have that ‘someone’ to go around with, you’re OK, and this poem reassures children (and their…
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As the Olympics are usually around this time of the year – July-August, I thought I’d jump in with an Olympic poem. As a teenager, I represented my school in the ‘Long Jump’ category of athletics… briefly. Of course, the tiniest wrong move could disqualify you, as I discovered after travelling for hours with my…
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These two poems of mine are published by The School Magazine, Australia, in different issues. Please click on images to enlarge. Illustrations: Matt Ottley The magazine has also made a noisy video of the second poem, ‘Downpour’, which you can watch here. I’ve typed the words of the poems below, for clarity. Hoping I’ll have…
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This little poem, ‘What is Summer for?’, hasn’t been appropriate for this particular summer up till about now, but as lockdowns – and the weather – start to lift, I’m hoping it’ll have some relevance now. Here it is, in Wayland’s anthology, Poems about Seasons, anthologist Brian Moses, illustrated by Ellie Jenkins. You’ll also find…
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Here’s a last-minute post for Insect week. Being as flutter-brained as an insect, I forgot about it until today. This bunch all come from my book, Wildlife Poems (2009, now out of print). Incidentally – or insect-entally – the little illustrations are mine too. Lady-Birdy Speckledy-dotty, dottledy-specky, freckledy-spotty, spottledy-frecky, metally-bright, petally-light, whoopsy-daisy beetly-thing. (I should…
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It’s a windy day here in south Wales, perhaps with you, too? As I clipped away at the garden hedge earlier, the gale tugged at my clothes and stirred my hair up, and set my cuttings flying before I could sweep them up. I felt rather like the wind-teased narrator of this old poem of…
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The Tree on the Hill The tree on the hill is my friend: he greets me night and day. Whenever I take a glance, he’s there. ‘Hi!’ he seems to say. And he’s my calendar: he guides me through the year. When his emerald crown turns gold, I know that winter’s near. And…
