Poetry

Caterpillar poem

by Deanna Hoermann

Caterpillar crawling round,
Trying not to make a sound.
Comes a magpie from the sky;
Caterpillar bye bye!

A bird came down the walk

by Emily Dickson

A bird came down the walk --
He did not know I saw --
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.

And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass --
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

The Cocoon

(Anonymous)

I found a cocoon
That a caterpillar made,
Fastened to a leaf
Hanging in the shade.
He barely had room
To wiggle or wag,
Like me zipped up
In my sleeping bag.

I looked each time
That I passed his way,
But he never budged
Until just today.
Something happened!
He wagged and wiggled
And then climbed out
And carefullly jiggled
Small wet wings
That grew as they dried.
He’d turned to a butterfly
Inside!

Ladybug

by Joan Walsh Anglund

A small speckled visitor
Wearing a crimson cape,
Brighter than a cherry,
Smaller than a grape.
A polka-dotted someone
Walking on my wall,
A black-hooded lady
In a scarlet shawl.

How doth the little busy bee

by Isaac Watts

The little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every shining flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

To a butterfly

by William Wordsworth

I’ve watched you now a full half-hour;
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!--not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my Sister’s flowers;
Here rest your wings when they are weary;
Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
Come often to us, fear no wrong;
Sit near us on the bough!
We’ll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.

A Spike of Green

by Barbara Baker

When I went out
The sun was hot
It shone upon
My flower pot.

And there I saw
A spike of green
That no one else
Had ever seen!

On other days
The things I see
Are mostly old
Except for me.

But this green spike
So new and small.
Had never yet
Been seen at all!

Little Brown Seeds

(Author unknown)

Little Brown Seeds so small and round,
Are sleeping quietly under ground.
Down come the raindrops
Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle,
Out comes the rainbow,
Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle.
Little brown seeds way down below,
Up through the earth they grow, grow, grow.
Little green leaves come one by one.
They hold up their heads and look at the sun.

The Little Plant

(Author unknown)

In the heart of a seed,
Buried deep so deep,
A tiny plant,
Lay fast asleep.
“Wake,” said the sunshine,
“And creep to the light,”
“Wake,” said the voice
Of the raindrops bright.
The little plant heard
And it rose to see,
What the wonderful,
Outside world might be.

Mr. Scarecrow

by Sheila Braine

There’s a ragged old man in the garden to-day,
And Gardener, laughing, says there he can stay;
His coat is in tatters, he wears an old hat,
And the birds do not like him, I’m quite sure of that.

They chatter, chit-chatter up there in the tree,
And aren’t half as friendly as they used to be;
But Gardener says: “That’s a good job indeed!
If it weren’t for that old man, they’d have all my seed!”

Life of a Plant

by Risa Jordan

A plant will grow from a tiny seed,
Some water and sun is all you need.

First the roots grown underground,
They suck up minerals from all around.

Then come stems, some tall, some stout,
And next the branches spread about.

Leaves grow in all shapes and sizes,
Watch this new life as it rises.

Flowers bloom from buds on stems,
They are as pretty as precious gems.

Some plants give us juicy fruit,
Some have vegetables at the root.

New seeds travel to and fro,
By wind and water, on the go.

And the cycle keeps on going,
Soon new stems and leaves are showing.

A Little Seed

by Mabel Watts

A little seed for me to sow.
A little earth to make it grow.
A little hole, A little pat.
A little wish, And that is that.
A little sun, A little shower,
A little while, And then --- a flower!

Here comes a Blue Bird

(Author unknown)

Here comes a blue bird, in through my window,
Hey, diddle diddle dum dum day.
Take a little partner, if you can find one;
Hey, diddle diddle dum dum day.

To keep the poem rolling, replace 'blue bird' with other birds like a lorikeet, magpie, or honeyeater.

The Compost Bin

(Author unknown)

Here is the compost, Here is the lid,
I wonder whatever inside is hid?
Why it’s a slug, without any doubt,
Open the lid and let it slide out.