Poems for Primary School1

1 Material elaborado por el equipo de especialistas de la Dirección Provincial de Educación Primaria - Área Inglés: G. Beacon, F.

Perduca y M.L. Spoturno

Dirección General de Cultura y Educación

Subsecretaría de Educación

Dirección Provincial de Educación Primaria

BUBBLE GUM By Tony Mitton Bubble gum, bubble gum A big pink balloon Bubble gum, bubble gum Round like the moon Bubble gum, bubble gum A planet in space Bubble gum, bubble gum Bursting in your face.

PENGUIN By Meish Goldish I know a bird That cannot fly: Penguin is its name. It cannot fly, But it can swim With speed that wins it fame! I know a bird That lives on ice And waddles by the sea. It looks so cute In its black and white suit, As handsome as can be!

THE CUPBOARD By Walter de la Mare

I know a little cupboard, With a teeny tiny key,

And there's a jar of Lollipops For me, me, me.

It has a little shelf, my dear,

As dark as dark can be, And there's a dish of Banbury Cakes

For me, me, me. I have a small fat grandmamma,

With a very slippery knee, And she's Keeper of the Cupboard,

With the key, key, key. And when I'm very good, my dear,

As good as good can be, There's Banbury Cakes, and Lollipops

For me, me, me.

WINTER CLOTHES By Karla Kuskin Under my hood I have a hat And under that My hair is flat Under my coat My sweater's blue My sweater's red I'm wearing two My muffler muffles to my chin And round my neck And then tucks in My gloves are knitted By my aunts And pants And pants And boots And shoes with socks inside The boots are rubber, red and wide And when I walk I must not fall Because I can't get up at all!

FORBIDDEN POEM By Tony Mitton This poem is not for children. Keep Out! There is a big oak door in front of this poem. It’s locked. And on the door is a notice in big red letters. It says: Any child who enters here will never be the same again. WARNING. KEEP OUT. But what’s this? A key in the keyhole. And what’s more, nobody’s about. “Go on. Look,” says a little voice inside your head. “Surely a poem cannot strike you dead?” You turn the key. The door swings wide. And then you witness what’s inside. And from that day you’ll try in vain. You’ll never be the same again.

Every time I climb a tree By David McCord Every time I climb a tree Every time I climb a tree Every time I climb a tree I scrape a leg Or skin a knee And every time I climb a tree I find some ants Or dodge a bee And get the ants All over me And every time I climb a tree Where have you been? They say to me But don't they know that I am free Every time I climb a tree? I like it best To spot a nest That has an egg Or maybe three And then I skin The other knee But every time I climb a tree I see a lot of things to see Swallows, rooftops and TV And all the fields and farms there be Every time I climb a tree Thought climbing may be good for ants It isn't awfully good for pants But still it's pretty good for me Every time I climb a tree

Snow By Mary Ann Hoberman Snow Snow Lots of snow Everywhere we look and everywhere we go Snow on the sandbox Snow on the slide Snow on the bicycle Left outside Snow on the steps And snow on my feet Snow on the sidewalk Snow on the sidewalk Snow on the sidewalk Down the street.

In the Tall, Tall Grass (By Denise Fleming)

In the tall, tall grass… Crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch Dart, dip, hummingbirds sip Strum, drum, bees hum Crack, snap, wings flap Pull, tug, ants lug Slip, slide, snakes glide Ritch, ratch, moles scratch Skitter, scurry, beetles hurry Zip, zap, tongues snap Hip, hop, ears flop Stop, go, fireflies glow Lunge, loop, bats swoop. Stars bright, moonlight… Good night, Tall, tall grass.

Ice cream I Scream, You scream, We all scream, For ICE CREAM!

One, Two, Three, Four (Traditional Nursery Rhyme)

One, two, three, four, five, Once I caught a fish alive! Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go? Because it bit my finger so! Which finger did it bite? The little finger on the right.

We Know (By Benjamin Zephaniah) Monkeys are not doing it, Snakes are not doing it, Neither are beetles or fleas, Lizards are not doing it, Birds are not doing it, They know that we need the trees, Mice are not doing it, Lice are not doing it, Cats are not doing it Honest, Bats are not doing it, I know who´s doing it, Humans are killing the forest.

This is my rock By David McCord This is my rock And here I run To steal the secret of the sun. This is my rock And here come I Before the night has swept the sky. This is my rock This is the place I meet the evening face to face.

“The Uncertainty of a Poet” By Wendy Cope

I am a poet, I am very fond of bananas.

I am bananas, I am very fond of a poet.

I am a poet of bananas. I am very fond.

A fond poet of 'I am, I am' - Very bananas.

Fond of Am I bananas Am I? - a very poet.

Bananas of a poet! Am I fond? Am I very?

Poet bananas! I am I am fond of a 'very'.

I am of very fond bananas. Am I a poet?

With a Poet’s Eye: A Tate Gallery Anthology presents paintings and poems side by side. This poem was inspired by the painting of the same name by Giorgio de Chirico (1913). August 1985

“According to my mood” By Benjamin Zephaniah I have poetic license, I Write thE way i waNt. I drop my full stops where i like .......... MY CAPITAL letteRs go where i liKE, I order from MY PEN, I verse the way i like (i do my spelling write) According to My Mood. I Have poetic license, I put my commers where i like,,((())). (((my brackets are write(( I REPEAT When i likE. I can´t go rong. I look and i. c. It’s rite. I Repeat when i liKE. I have Poetic license! Don´t question me????

“The British” (By Benjamin Zephaniah)

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures And let them settle, Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.

Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years Add lots of Norman French to some Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.

Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans, Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Sudanese.

Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians And Pakistanis, Combine with some Guyanese And turn up the heat.

Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians, Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese And Palestinians Then add to the melting pot. Leave the ingredients to simmer.

As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish Binding them together with English.

Allow time to be cool.

Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future, Serve with justice And enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.

Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.

“My friend in school” By Tony Medina

My friend in school is Johnny Tse you say it like the letter C he's Chinese I like that 'cause I learn new things from him like different foods to eat new words to speak and – oh yeah – karate! which is Japanese – not Chinese and I don't like it too much 'cause you gotta kick real high but I like the clothes you have to wear I go over to his house to play video games he comes over to my house to eat and to watch cartoons My friend in school is Johnny Tse which sounds like C or see or sea or sí (that's Spanish) if you didn't know) My friend in school is Johnny Tse he's Chinese and likes to sneeze and when he does that in school or outside we laugh and laugh and people wonder what and wonder why and what's so funny all the time.

“The Computer’s First Christmas Card” (Edwin Morgan)

jollymerry

hollyberry

jollyberry

merryholly

happyholly

jollyjelly

jellybelly

bellymerry

hollyheppy

jollyMerry

marryJerry

merryHarry

hoppyBarry

heppyJarry

bobbyheppy

berryjorry

jorryjolly

moppyjelly

Mullymerry

Jerryjolly

bellyboppy

jorryhoppy

hollymoppy

Barrymerry

Jarryhappy

happyboppy

boppyjolly

jollymerry

merrymerry

merrymerry

merryChris

ammerryasa

Chrismerry

asMERRYCHR

YSANTHEMUM

By Mary Ann Hoberman

“Lullaby” (Fragment) The earth is your mother, She holds you. The sky is your father, he protects you. Sleep. sleep. Rainbow is your sister, she loves you. The winds are your brothers, they sing to you. Sleep, sleep. We are together always We are together always There never was a time when this was not so. By Leslie Marmon Silko

“I, Too” By Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh. And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed -- I, too, am America.

“Chinese Cat” By Edwin Morgan

p m r k g n i a o u

p m r k g n i a o

p m r k n i a o

p m r n i a o

p m r i a o

p m i a o

m a i o

m a o

“Siesta of a Hungarian Snake”

s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz ZS zs Zs zs zs z

By Edwin Morgan

“Ten Things Found in a Shipwrecked Sailor’s Pocket” By Ian Mcmillan A litre of sea.

An unhappy jellyfish.

A small piece of a lifeboat.

A pencil wrapped around with seaweed.

A soaking feather.

The first page of a book called Swimming is Easy.

A folded chart showing dangerous rocks.

A photograph of a little girl in a red dress.

A gold coin.

A letter from a mermaid.

“My Noisy Brother” By Bruce Lansky

My brother's such a noisy kid,

when he eats soup he slurps.

When he drinks milk he gargles.

And after meals he burps.

He cracks his knuckles when he's bored.

He whistles when he walks.

He snaps his fingers when he sings.

and when he's mad he squawks.

At night my brother snores so loud

it sounds just like a riot.

Even when he sleeps

my noisy brother isn't quiet.

The Sound Collector By Roger McGough

A stranger called this morning Dressed all in black and grey Put every sound into a bag

And carried them away.

The whistling of the kettle The turning of the lock

The purring of the kitten The ticking of the clock

The popping of the toaster The crunching of the flakes

When you spread the marmalade The scraping noise it makes

The hissing of the frying-pan The ticking of the grill

The bubbling of the bathtub As it starts to fill

The drumming of the raindrops On the window-pane

When you do the washing-up The gurgle of the drain

The crying of the baby The squeaking of the chair The swishing of the curtain

The creaking of the stair

A stranger called this morning He didn't leave his name

Left us only silence Life will never be the same.

I've Got A Cold

By Roger McGough

I've got a cold And it's not funny

My throat is numb My nose is runny

My ears are burning My fingers are itching

My teeth are wobbly My eyebrows are twitching

My kneecaps have slipped My bottom's like jelly

The button's come off My silly old belly

My chin has doubled My toes are twisted

My ankles have swollen My elbows are blistered

My back is all spotty My hair's turning white

I sneeze through the day And cough through the night

I've got a cold And I'm going insane

(Apart from all that I'm as right as rain.)

Ask Mummy Ask Daddy

By John Agard

When I ask Daddy Daddy says ask Mummy

When I ask Mummy

Mummy says ask Daddy. I don't know where to go.

Better ask my teddy

He never says no.

Traditional skipping rhymes

Tell me, tell me, tell me true. How old, how old, how old are you? One, two, three, four, five…

Down in the valley Where the green grass grows, There sat Tracy Sweet as a rose. She sang, she sang, She sang so sweet. Along came Ben And kissed her cheek. How many kisses did he give her? One, two, three, four, five.

Cloud Dragons (By Pat Mora) What do you see in the clouds so high? What do you see in the sky? Oh, I see dragons that curl their tails as they go slithering by. What do you see in the clouds so high? What do you see? Tell me, do. Oh, I see caballitos that race the wind high in the shimmering blue.

Colors Crackle, Colors Roar (By Pat Mora) Red shouts a loud, balloon-round sound. Black crackles like noisy grackles. Café clickety-clicks its wooden sticks. Yellow sparks and sizzles, tzz-tzz. White sings, Ay, her high, light note. Verde rustles leaf-secrets, swhish, swhish. Gris whis-whis-whispers its kitten whiskers. Silver ting-ting-a-ling jingles. Azul coo-coo-coos like pajaritos do. Purple thunders and rum-rum-rumbles. Oro blares, a brassy, brass tuba. Orange growls its striped, rolled roar. Colors Crackle. Colors Roar.

Abuelita’s Lap (By Pat Mora) I know a place where I can sit and tell about my day, tell every color that I saw from green to cactus gray. I know a place where I can sit and hear a favorite beat, from heart and cuentos from the past, the rhymes honey-sweet. I know a place where I can sit and listen to a star, listen to its silent song, gliding from afar. I know a place where I can sit and hear the wind go by, hearing it spinning round my house, my whirling lullaby.

4 Poems by Pat Mora Chocolate Fudge, cake, pie, cookies. Brown magic melts on your tongue. Happy, your eyes dance. Corn Leaves sprout silk-snug house. Smell grits, tortillas, corn bread. Pass the butter, please. Pineapple A stiff, spiky hat on thick prickly skin, inside hide syrupy rings. Prickly Pear Red desert wonder. Cactus fruit becomes syrup and dulces. Surprise!

“Trees are for Climbing” By Dr.Fitzhugh Dodson Trees are for climbing;

Words are for rhyming,

Bikes are for riding.

Bushes are for hiding.

Blocks are for stacking,

Suitcases are for packing.

Clothes are for dressing,

Riddles for guessing.

Bells are for clanging;

Drums are for banging.

Stamps are for sticking,

Ice cream for licking.

Shoes are for walking;

A voice is for talking.

Tears are for weeping;

A bed is for sleeping.

Milk is for drinking;

A brain is for thinking.

“Short story” ( By David R. Morgan) I wrote a great story at school today Mum It was 60 c e n t i m e t r e s long

“The Planet of Mars”

By Shel Silverstein

On the planet of Mars

They have clothes just like ours

And they have the same shoes and the same laces,

And they have the same charms and the same graces,

And they have the same heads and the same faces…

But not in the

Very same

Places