Career Choice

I boiled the bread

Cooked mouldy beans

My apple crumble was obscene

I broke the oven

Soaked the floor

Hot curry sauce splattered the door

I smashed four plates

Trod on the cheese

Blocked up the sink with mushy peas


My shepherd's pie - you couldn't eat

I made spag bol - forgot the meat

I dropped six eggs

Sat on your cake

My baked potatoes wouldn't bake

My Sunday roast was burnt to death


That's why I became a poet

And not a chef



Unbottled Lightning

Unleash your lightning

Let it crackle and fry

Dazzle, frazzle and flash

And ignite the whole sky

While it’s firing, inspiring

And unlocking potential

As it forms, flows and grows

On a path exponential


Unleash your lightning

Let it rage, roar and soar

See it take you to places

You’ve not been to before

With a speed supersonic

Feel it fly at full throttle

All your dreams, skills and talents

Don’t let them stay bottled

Animal Outfits

I've never seen...

A giraffe wrapped in a scarf

Llamas dressed in pyjamas

A coot clothed in a suit

Kittens kitted out in mittens

An owl draped in a cowl

Kippers sporting slippers

A meerkat wearing a hat

Doves donning gloves

A goat garbed in a coat

Dogs modelling clogs

Or an octopus with a T-shirt on it

So how come...

There's a bee in my bonnet?

Brontosaurus in My Bed

He dives underneath the duvet

Swiftly slides between the sheets

With a mighty monster body

Loping legs and massive feet

I thought dinosaurs had vanished

Yet it's clear they're far from dead

Cos there's a Brontosaurus in my bed


Gnashing teeth as sharp as needles

Beady eyes that stare and glare

I can nudge him but can't budge him

He's not going anywhere

When I'm dressed in my pyjamas

It's the time that I most dread

Cos there's a Brontosaurus in my bed


I hear snorting, snoring, roaring

Feel his swiping, swishy tail

I ask him to move politely

In reply he grunts and growls

Though I love my comfy mattress

I sleep on the floor instead

Cos there's a Brontosaurus in my bed!

Vacuum

It's my stomach yelling “Hungry!”

And my morning brain each Monday


It's a pause after the lightning

Heartbeats stopping when it's frightening


It's an endless void of space and

Desolation of a wasteland


It's a long queue...waiting...waiting

A blank canvas prior to painting


It's a feeling that you're leaving

Having nothing to believe in


It's a deep hole in a dark room

It's an airless, empty vacuum

Underground

I love the endless snaking tunnels

The noisy rattling trains

Riding down the escalators

Then riding up again


The odd assortment of passengers

Ads, posters and tube map

The huge range of strange station names

Announcements like “Mind the gap!”


The robotic ticket barriers

The queues, the crowds, the crush

So can we please take the Underground

Instead of the car or the bus?

Fastly

You could rapidly run an Olympic race

Disappear quickly without a trace

Promptly pack your bags for holiday

Speedily gobble up a takeaway


Be swiftly blown over in a strong gale

Even slide slowly like a slug or a snail

But you could never fly fastly like a plane or a bird

Because fastly definitely isn't a word!

Practice Makes Perfect

Practaced m ake$ ! pperfects

It's true what they say

Practace m ake$ ! pperfects

Keep plugging away

Practace m ake$ pperfects

No star is too high

Practace m akes pperfects

Try, try, try, try, try


Practace m akes pperfects

Don't give in, don't stop

Practice m akes pperfects

Rise up to the top

Practice m akes perfects

Always a great plan

Practice m akes perfect

You'll find that you can as...

Practice makes perfect


Phone Finger

You're my phone finger

Working on your own

Dialling every number on my mobile phone


Writing all my emails

Sending all my texts

You help me to communicate

You help me to connect


You're my phone finger

Right next to my thumb

You're my special digit, you're my number one


Taking perfect photos

Opening my apps

Your movement is so magical

“Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap”


You're my phone finger

Sitting on my hand

Waiting and responding to my brain's command


Flitting round my keyboard

Supersonic speed!

Prepared to call emergency

If ever I'm in need


You're my phone finger

Working on your own

Dialling every number on my mobile phone


Escape

When I'm angry I'm a rocket launching

When I'm sad I'm a grim grey cloud

When I'm funny I'm the King's court jester

I'm Mount Everest when I'm feeling proud


When I'm creative I'm a rainbow explosion

When I'm strong I'm The Man of Stone

When I'm tired I'm a Monday morning

I'm the number '1' when I'm all alone


When I'm jealous I'm the greenest emerald

When I'm happy I'm a song to sing

'Cos when I escape into my imagination

I can be absolutely anything

Bouncy Castle Birthday Party!

Flying arms

Knees are knocked

Flailing legs

Smelly socks

Shouting and screaming

Get the ice creams in

Bouncy castle birthday party!


Hitting heads

Bashing bums

Fall on backs

Flop on tums

Stop for some jelly

Cartoons on telly

Bouncy castle birthday party!


Ankles twist

Bodies bump

Bruises grow

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Dizzy heads clashing

Isn't it smashing?

Bouncy castle birthday party!


Everyone's excited!

Everyone's elated!

Until Dad pulls the plug

And the bouncy castle's...

Deflated

Favourite Book

In not such good health

I rest on the shelf

My pages discoloured and cream

You know me so well

A story to tell

That dazzles and dances in dreams


When my life began

You were huge a fan

My cover, bright, shiny and new

Time pushed us apart

Still, I'm in your heart

You can't erase what we've been through


Now if you’re in need

Just have one more read

Please open me up, take a look

From intro to end

A fine faithful friend

Forever your favourite book

How Long is a Poem?

It can be:

As long as a child’s widest smile

As long as the teeth on a crocodile

As long as the Eiffel Tower is tall

As long as your nose (and that’s not long at all)

As long as my sister’s ponytail

As long as a snail’s slimy trail

As long as a queue at a bus stop

As long as a sausage from the butcher’s shop

As long as a hundred anaconda snakes

‘Cos a poem can be as long as it…

As long as it…

As long as it…

As long as it…

Takes

Break

You can break your silence

Let it all out

Yell and holler! Scream and shout!

You can break a promise

Break your duck

Break any mirror and you'll get bad luck

You can break some bread

For lunch or a snack

A straw can break the camel's back

You can break dance

If you're athletic and agile

Break cups and plates

As they're very fragile


You can break a window

Break into a sweat

To break the sound barrier

Fly a supersonic jet

You can break a code

If you're super smart

But please, please, please

Don't ever break my heart


Stop!

You can't have:

A drip without a drop

A plip without a plop

A rabbit without a hop

Karate without a chop

A fizz without a pop

A flip without a flop

A bottom without a top

A city without a shop

A cleaner without a mop

An exchange without a swap

A surgeon without an op

A skinhead without a crop

A police car without a cop

Or a start without a...STOP!

Sleepy Dog

Our dog won't sleep in the kitchen

Our dog won't sleep in the hall

I lure her to the lounge with treats

But she won't sleep there at all


Our dog won't sleep on the landing

It’s a thing that she won't do

A comfy cushion, sofa, chair

She'll refuse each of them too


Our dog won't sleep in her basket

Prefers somewhere else instead

'Cos though I tell her “No! No! No!”

She will always choose my bed