These clever poets have had their poems published on Paula Green's Poetry Box website. You can read them below, or find them on her blog:
https://nzpoetrybox.wordpress.com/2020/05/09/poetry-box-bubble-time-friday-8th-childrens-mahi/
Sophie Elkins - My Favourite Tree (Sophie has won a book for her poem!)
My Favourite Tree
My birch is as rough as a Rhinos horn
And as calm as peace and quiet
It's as beautiful as a mystical starry night
It’s looked over me when I was young
and will look over further on
It's not exactly straight
But it's like only a little crooked like a crooked house
Its graceful leaves luxuriously sway
side to side in the ferocious wind
It will always be with me no matter where I am
I will always think of it as beautiful
even when dad grumbles like a gorilla over the leaves
When I look and think about it
I will always remember the wonderful time
I took my first step up on the trunk
looking out, over the street like an eagle
James de Wit - Death of an Autumn Leaf, The Wiggly Squiggly Hose, The Peaceful Night
Death of an Autumn Leaf
Autumn leaves glide like flying squirrels in North America
They cascade like lemmings migrating off a cliff
they sail like shipwrecks
leaves pile-up like toys on the floor
They die on the ground
like lemmings at the bottom of the cliff
Leaves accumulate like money in the bank
leaves rot like an apple
in the bottom of my school bag
They decompose like dinosaurs
when the mighty meteor hit
Leaves corrode
like rust on the bottom of a shabby Corolla
The Wiggly Squiggly Hose
The hose is like a tapeworm tangled up in my stomach
It loops around itself like an elephant’s trunk
It is coiled and knotted like my shoelaces
Our hose drips water like a broken toilet.
It leaks water onto the ground like a sewer pipe
It sprays water like a skunk defending itself.
My hose is as long and green as Jack’s beanstalk
It is as long and green as five Kermits tied together
It is as long and green as a vine of sour grapes
The Peaceful Night
My bed is luxurious with the softest pillow in the world
the blankets are toasty and snug,
the room is dark and cozy,
just perfect for sleeping in
As my eyes start to shut
a loud snore comes from my brother’s room,
the house creaks 7 times every 7 seconds,
my crazy dog begins to bark
to get outside and hunt hedgehogs
After that long and interrupted sleep,
I think I might need a coffee today,
possibly a cappuccino
Lillia Poh - Lockdown List
Lockdown List
leaves, leaves, leaves crunching
mailboxes, moths no one’s bunching
Dogs, dogs, dogs barking
creeks, cats, cars are parking
Sparrows, Sparrows, Sparrows tweeting
Felicias, friends no one's meeting
Wind, wind, wind whistling
bears, bikes, sausages sizzling.
Lucas Yee - Lockdown Walk, Bean Bag
A Lockdown Walk
White fluffy clouds roamed the sky.
The streets were deserted like the basement of an abandoned house.
Brown, crunchy leaves crackled with every step.
Leafless Birch trees lined the streets.
The occasional car interrupted the surreal silence.
Suddenly a big gust of wind blew me over and I came tumbling down SPLAT!!!!
Bean Bag
The surface is like the colour of a snow lynx’s coat.
It’s as oval as an egg.
Puffy as a cloud dancing in the sky.
Soft as a bed of marshmallows.
Furry as a Maine Coon cat.
Warm as an overheated computer.
Ella-Rose - Beans
Beans
foil crinkling as I
dip my hand
into the packet
what do I
wish for
dinner?
popcorn and
apple pie
maybe a dash
of
coconut
cantaloupe
and coffee
blueberries
and bubblegum
doctor pepper
or island punch
creaming soda
or root beer
my mouth watering
as I dip my hand
into the
rainbow
into the world
of
sugar
into the
land of
sweets
into...
jellybeans
Reuben Veenstra - Mondial Rose
The Mondial Rose
The rose bush is like Medusa's hair
Twisting and creeping towards the sky
It is a brave warrior
Fighting with long, vicious thorns
It is a forest
Calm, relaxing and beautiful
It is a hotel
Welcoming small guests
The flowers are women
wearing soft, white dresses
The buds are young children
Running with the breeze
The wilting flowers are elders
Waving their relatives goodbye
Liam Bond - Nibbles My Pet
NIBBLES My Pet
Nibbles is as hot as an erupting volcano
He is as fast as Lightning McQueen
His feet are as small as a lego figure
His whiskers twitch like he is about to sneeze
He is just a bit bigger than a block of butter
He looks like an oreo biscuit with a splash of Caramel on the side
Did you guess what I was writing about ???
It is a guinea pig
Liam Clark - Autumn
Autumn
Leaves blowing
trees flowing
the lemons
are growing.
My brother’s
birthday’s
coming up.
Eabha Dalton - String Lights, Things That Wake Me Up in the Night
Pitter pitter patter
The footsteps of a beast
I am too cold yet heavily fleeced,
my rumbling stomach’s churning after my midnight feast
Swish swish swoosh
The branches of the trees
I hold my breath and hug my knees,
my heart takes a few seconds to unfreeze
Flick flick flock
The flickering of the lightswitch
I hide under my quilt from the witch,
And my fingers go bonkers for a giant itch
Tweet tweet beep
The sound of the morning
I climb out of bed lazily to spread my warning
And nobody seems to be conforming!
String lights
Rain droplets hanging on a thread of silver
A thousand shooting stars
stuck on a moonbeam
Tiny fairies dancing around a cherry tree
A glittery snake slithering
around my bedroom
Eyes of an owl looking at me as I sleep
Long and twisted jungle vines
Miniscule marbles pink and blue
My little string lights.
Aaliyah Rentoul - Weedeater
The Weedeater
Oh no there it is again
the one
the hungry
weedeater machine
It gobbles the garden like baboon
It roars and hisses like a car engine starting
It gnaws the grass, the weeds
like a mouse nibbling on cheese
Me and my sister like a lovely stroll
and then ahh!
There it is again at this place
at that place
all over the show
like a monkey dancing to jazz music
here and there
everyone’s got them
Where do we go?
I know we can hide like a turtle in its shell
as it rushes and gushes and strikes but misses,
I think it’s full- no more weeds
but we’ll see you again, beasty machine!
Ila Rutherfurd - Things That Wake Me in the Night
Things that Wake Me Up at Night
I listen to the cars drift past my driveway in the dark night.
Wind whirling in the night sky.
No one can hear or see me.
So I am desperate to be safe.
Snug in a rug in my warm cosy bed.
I hear the birds singing bedtime songs to the chicks.
The bedtime stories are making me sleepy
so I go to bed and say my prayers.
Good night, New Zealand
