Brooklyn Bridge Poem
by Arya, 10, Ridge Road Elementary School, USA
The Great East River Bridge
….John Augustus Roebling designed
Stood up high and tall,
….Held together by iron strings confined
Connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn,
….While in the river swim the fins
As the towers touched the sky,
….The birds soar and fly
The traffic of cars, vans, and buses move on,
….As the conversations on the walkway carry on
In the morning the bridge is a road to success
….At night it takes us home to rest!
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Happy Hallowe’en — here’s a poem to spook your friends!
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Windy Nights by Robert Louis Stevenson
THE DROVERS by CJ Dennis
THE WIND HAS SUCH A RAINY SOUND by Christina Rossetti
The wind has such a rainy sound
Moaning through the town,
The sea has such a windy sound,
Will the ships go down?
The apples in the orchard
Tumble from their tree.
Oh will the ships go down, go down,
In the windy sea?
I LIKE APPLES by Benjamin W, 7, Malaysia
I like apples. Apple is one of my most favourite fruits.
There are red and green apples but I prefer red apples.
I like apples because they are sweet and sometimes they are sour.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Today is the LAST day of the Soup Blog Poetry Festival.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the blog to read and listen to poems and meet some of Australia’s amazing children’s poets.
We thought we’d close the festival with one of our favourite poems — ‘Mulga Bill’s Bicycle’ by AB (Banjo) Paterson.
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What’s your favourite poet or poem?
Today we welcome Lorraine Marwood to the blog — Lorraine writes verse novels and poetry and you would have read several of her poems in Alphabet Soup!
When did you first start writing poetry?
I began as a teenager, so probably 15 years old, but before that I was writing down ideas and little stories for many years.
What sort of poetry do you like writing best of all?
Poetry that doesn’t rhyme but shows in different ways a moment in time or an emotion, and still has all the strong features of poetry, like rhythm, strongest words, images, sensory details, emotion.
What sort of poetry do you like reading?
Contemporary poetry written by Australians; poems in The School Magazine, NSW; anthologies like 100 Australian poets, so I read many poets in the one book. Also poetry by young writers and I enjoy reading the results of the Dorothea Mackellar poetry competition.
Where can we read your poetry?
I have had six collections of poems published — the most recent one is Guinea Pig town and other animal poems with Walker Books Australia. I’ve had lots of poems published in magazines, here in Australia, UK, USA and Canada. And I always love to be published in The School Magazine and of course Alphabet Soup — well, I wish that was still going.
Here’s one of the poems from Guinea Pig town and other animal poems:
[click on the image to enlarge it]
How often do you write?
I’d like to say everyday — well I do write but some days its emails, administration or reworking a piece, then other days it’s intense writing, but always I’m thinking about my poems, an idea, a story, what happens next …
Do you prefer to write with a pen and paper or straight onto the computer?
That’s a good question. I like to write poetry with a pen in one of my current notebooks. I often write when traveling or out for the day. I can jot down ideas I see or an idea that strikes. Poetry to me needs this special touch, but for stories I type right onto my laptop.
What’s your number one tip for budding poets?
Keep a notebook you can take with you. Jot down anything that catches your eye. Train yourself to be observant, because the strongest writing uses those details that others skim over.
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Lorraine’s Poetry Prescription
IF YOU’RE HAVING A RUSHING, BUSTLING DAY — read the following poem:
‘Wilderness’ by Carl Sandburg.
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To find out more about Lorraine Marwood and her books and poetry, check out her website and read an earlier post featuring Lorraine.
It’s Tuesday and you know what that means? It’s time for this week’s Tuesday Challenge. And this is one we know you’ve probably been expecting ever since we announced that there would be a tiny poem challenge every Tuesday …
Write a haiku.
A haiku is a short poem, usually inspired by nature. At school you might have been taught that a haiku is a 3-line poem with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line. That’s one way to write a haiku. Modern writers of haiku (in English) don’t always worry about the syllable count — they just keep their poem very, very short. Some say that it should be able to be read in a single breath.
A haiku is like a brief snapshot or image. Like a word-photograph. It doesn’t rhyme.
Here’s one I wrote a few days ago:
Weary crickets creak
A light floats in the pond —
August moon rising
If you write a haiku — will you share it with us in the comments below? (Check with a parent or teacher first.) Grownups are also welcome to post a haiku but please note that we are G-rated!
~ Rebecca
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Until the end of August, we’ll have a new poetry challenge every Tuesday.
Read these earlier Poetry Challenges from the 2013 Soup Blog Poetry Festival. (You can still add your poems in the comments at each post if you like!)
alphabetsoup.net.au 