Thank you so much for all the fabulous poems inspired by your grandparents (and an aunty!). I felt so moved reading these.
I imagined having grandparent poetry readings in schools! You could invite gandparents in for morning tea and then read them all your poems. How wonderful. I once took a group of young poets to a retirement village and it was completely amazing! I must do it again.
I really like the way Westmere School went hunting for grandparent secrets because there is so much we can learn from our elders. I like the way some of you wrote about how your grandparent was when they were your age! I like the poetry play and the surprising detail.
Remember this is not a competition but a challenge – but that each month I send a book to at least one poet. This month thanks to Gecko Press I am sending Encyclopedia of Grannies to Charlotte C at Ilam School.
It was so hard picking poems to post – I loved them all – I do hope you try my June challenge.
My Grandad
When my grandad was alive, we lived in Rambukkana, in Sri Lanka.
The clothes he wore were black, white or grey.
His hair was as white as a snowflake.
My grandad used to love to play with me when I was a baby.
He has passed away.
Rynie R Age: 6 yrs, Ilam School
The Collectors
My Grandparents’ house is wonderful
What is best about them is that they collect
Knucklebones, greenstone, scout blankets
And Grandad’s old school pencil case
Ben E, Age 7, St Andrews College
My Grandpa
My Grandpa’s face
Is as crumbly
As can be
So you can tell he is old.
He lives in a special house
As big as can be.
Max D, age 6 – Ilam School
My Gran
My Gran
Bakes lemon slice
Chops it into squares.
She sings like a bird
And walks like
A queen.
She is as sweet
As a buttercup.
Charlotte C Age 7 Year 3 St Andrews College
Grandad
Grandad as old as time.
Grandad who watches the trees turn green, then brown, then green again.
Grandad your brown hair is now grey.
Isobel P, Age 8, From Ilam School, Christchurch
Sumner Beach
At Sumner beach my grandma watches a clown fish find a new home to lay its eggs.
My grandma sails on the sea.
She goes snorkelling with dolphins and sees a coral reef.
By Caitlin Coupé Age 6 Ilam School
My Granny and Grandad’s House
My Granny and Grandad’s
House, a place where
I like to
Play in the grass
Rolling, tumbling
With my grandparents.
A place where I like to
Make amazing cakes
That are big, small,
Skinny and fat
With my grandparents,
But the thing that I like
To do the most is
Just being with my
Granny and Grandad
Aine, Age: 11, Year: 6, Fendalton School
In memory of Grandad
As time passes slowly by, my branches start to snap
I am growing older and my trunk could soon collapse
But I need never worry, my grandchildren are here
My tiny seedlings in the soil will always be near
I am only human but my inner thoughts tell me
That nothing ever truly dies – life is like a tree
Skylarose, Te Awanui Class Years 4-6. Maoribank School, Upper Hutt
(Teacher’s note: Skylarose wrote this after talking to her grandad who died this week of cancer, making his thoughts even more pertinent.)
For My Grandad
I love my grandad, he cares for me, like I’m a fern in his garden
He keeps me healthy and gives me things I need like his soil for his trees
He lets me visit great granddad Warner who isn’t so fast and agile anymore
And lets me visit my great grandmother’s grave,
I love my grandad like he’s all the stars shining as one
he makes me feel alive, he makes life fair.
Georgie M, Age:9, Selwyn House School
Hide and Seek (written from the perspective of Nan)
When your big cousins were young
I loved to play hide and seek with them
I would pretend I didn’t see their tippy toes
Peeking out from under the curtain
When you Dad was a little boy
I loved to play hide and seek with him
I would pretend I didn’t know that under the bedclothes
He was curled up like a hedgehog
When I was a little girl
I loved to play hide and seek with anyone
I would pretend to hide as I galloped through the orchard
And no one could ever find me
Now I am an old granny
I love playing hide and seek with you
I can pretend I am young again
And remember my whole life has been one happy game
By Daniel L. Age 10, Year 6, Adventure School, Porirua
Poppy’s Lolly Jar
Poppy hides his lolly jar.
Lachie and Michael look in the car.
Where are the jelly snakes?
Where are the chocolate flakes?
Poppy’s put them on his bedside table.
Come and get them if you are able.
His camera will catch you.
There’ll be a hullabaloo.
When Poppy shakes the jar
you’ll be no star.
Tom N Age 10 Year 6 Hoon Hay School/ Te Kura Koaka
My Auntie Denise
My Auntie Denise flies as high as a bird
With the clouds
And the sun
And the moon.
With what rises
And the leaves
That blow the wind
That howl
And the trees
That crash into little pieces of smoky wood.
I know she loves the wind
And nature.
Her hair is brown
As a crunchy leaf
Cracking to the stars.
Mathilda H Age 6, Year 2, Ilam School
Richmond School sent a wonderful bunch of poems – I really loved the way these poems took me back in time and made the grandparent in the poem come alive. Here are some:
Grandma’s Life of Secrets
Going on a ship from England to NZ,
learning the Kiwi vibe,
wasn’t quite what Grandma was made for.
Her posh accent vs the kiwi twang…
Grandma never understood why
she sounded like a horse,
in a pack of ponies.
Grandma had two brothers,
and a Dad.
Two girls in the family was like
being ice cream in the hot sun.
When Grandma was 10
she had a lot of friends.
She loved that she had been brought
to a brighter nicer place of warmth.
She didn’t mind much…
apart from the fact…
she never
had a
pet
cat.
Francesca F age nine year 5 Richmond Road School
Grandma’s Secrets
Grandma is a survival specialist.
She survived the night,
In a hole, in a glacier,
Watching the stars shine bright.
She went diving solo
Watching a shoal of stingray
Gliding past her face.
When she was a child,
(That’s hard to imagine)
All her siblings,
In the beginning,
Were younger than her,
I think.
When she was young,
In her classroom among
All the children
There wasn’t a single screen.
Instead of a white-board,
There was a single blackboard.
Just one teacher
To forty kids.
She was born in Scotland,
Made her way to New ‘Land.
Went to Whāngārei.
She went to stay.
Then she moved to Port Chalmers.
It certainly charmed her.
She decided to stay.
My perfect grandma today!
Gretel H, age nine, year 5, Richmond Road School, Auckland
Poem for Nana Banana
My nana has lived in New Zealand, since she was a child,
Her young life wasn’t particularly wild.
She often spent her holidays at a farm,
Which sounded quite calm,
Except for her 6 or 7 bothers and sisters.
She told me that her leather shoes gave her blisters,
When she ran in the green field.
But if she hopped in the bath her feet healed,
It felt nice, but it was quite slow.
In the morning her dad would get his hoe,
Gather his crops, and make some dough.
A few days later she would go home,
Back in Auckland it wasn’t as nice to roam,
Because it wasn’t as green,
And it was a different sort of clean.
Wolf C Age 10 Year 6 Richmond Road School
Glorious Granddads
(warning only half of this poem is true otherwise my granddad would be bald)
My grandad was a child in the blitz,
he must of thought it was more evil than Voldemort’s nose slits.
If you were in the blitz, you would know that the bombs would make big old pits.
So people would move you to the countryside,
where you eat stuff a bit like rotting silverside.
Old gramps was very sad when he had to move in with Brad, (that’s a random name).
It might have even made him mad.
The guys (and girls) who got him there saw that he was tearing his hair.
So they sent him back hoping to keep his hair intact.
He went without slack and didn’t even look back.
When he arrived home
his mother didn’t dare pass him the comb.
She gave him a hair growth lotion,
to grow more hair in a nice smooth motion.
For my glorious granddad who is turning 90 this year.
Toby R 10 yrs old Year 5 Richmond Rd School
Thank you Westmere School for sending a terrific bunch of poems – i really enjoyed the sense of humour running through them and the way some used strong detail to make the person in the poem come alive. Here are some:
My Teency Tiny Grandma
My Grandma
was born on a farm.
When she was was younger,
she was mini,
she was little,
she was tiny.
She complained about being short…
So her dad said…
“Go
Stand
In
Cow
Poop.”
So she did.
For ages.
But it obviously did nothing,
because,
she is still..
TINY!!!!
(but she is pretty cool!)
Ashlin P Age:11 LS6 Westmere School
Nanny Maree
Her favorite toy was Bestest, the doll.
Her favorite ice cream was strawberry.
She had a favorite subject, English
and she didn’t have a nickname
(she hated them).
She was nice,
and didn’t get bullied.
nor did she do it herself.
She read a book
(or two)
when she was bored.
She had an incident with a cat…
and
doesn’t
like
them
much…
Ella M Age 9 LS6 Westmere School
Secrets
Secrets about Grandad…
My Grandad had a teddy called Ted.
His favorite colour was red.
He liked hokey pokey ice cream.
His favorite food was pork chow mein.
His favorite plant was a poppy.
He had a rabbit that was hoppy.
His favorite sport was to run.
He thought school was fun.
Secrets about Grandad…
Olive W Age : 9 LS6 Westmere School
My Gran’s Life
My granny’s very fun
But was she fun when
She was young?
Yes she was.
She had a friend called Cath
She had a huge bath.
Guess what?
They are still friends.
She had cats.
She made them hats.
How many cats did she have?
10, 20, 30?
No only 2.
My granny liked licorice,
And she would wish,
For a big dish,
full of licorice.
My granny had her feet in plaster.
It was a huge disaster,
but it didn’t last a…
year.
Tilly Obrien 9 years ls8 Westmere School
My Nan
My granny is called Nan
I am her biggest fan.
She used to love to help bake steak and mash,
with my great gran Lorna.
They used to knit sweaters in the winter,
to be warmer.
Her favorite color was red, like the flowers at the beach,
swimming with her pony, called Peach.
She fell off her pony,
it kicked her in the head.
She woke up in the hospital bed,
luckily she wasn’t dead.
Molly Davidson age: 9 LS8 Westmere school
My Grandma’s Childhood.
When my grandma was young,
her favourite book was Peter Pan.
Her favourite food was plum jam.
She was a straight A student.
She was very diligent.
She loved to dance and sing.
Tap, ballet, jazz… everything.
Her favourite color was red.
She loved to lie in bed.
She dyed her sister’s hair green.
Her first friend was Eileen.
When my grandma was was young.
Laura J Age 10 LS7 Westmere Schoo
When my Grandma was Young
When my grandma was younger,
she was wiggly, jiggly all over the place.
She just didn’t sit still
in Maungawhau Primary School.
Her favorite subject was grammar,
she loved it the best,
forget about the rest.
The thing that made her sad,
was when people left her alone.
She had two pets,
a cat called Sandy
and a bluey called Budgie.
Ooops…
a budgie called Bluey!
That’s my grandma’s childhood.
Ava R Age: 9 LS7 Westmere school
MY GRANDMA FROM THEN TO NOW.
My Grandma’s favorite color is red
But before it was blue instead.
Her favorite animal was a bird
And it has not changed.
She would come in the room
To make everyone’s day.
She was always happy,
Just like today.
She ate eggs and rye bread
And she still does.
She had golden hair the color of honey,
And she was always so funny.
She was an artist just like now,
And that is my Grandma
From then to now.
By Maya B Westmere school age:10
The Strange But Funny (But Maybe Not True) Poem About My Nana
We call her Nina,
although she wasn’t a cleaner.
She was very funny,
and her hair was quite fuzzy.
She had a cat,
and her best friend’s name was Pat.
Her favourite food was schnitzel,
and her boyfriend’s name was Mitchell.
Her favourite colour was green,
but she didn’t like ice cream.
It maybe quite funny,
but only a bit is true …
Katelyn M LS7 Age:9 Westmere school
Oma
We call our grandma Oma.
No, she is not Dutch.
She lives in New Zealand.
My cousin named my Oma, from her first words.
She liked wiggly jiggly jelly.
She doesn’t like to be called Sally.
She hated grotty, green beans.
She loved the colour red
Like the rug on her bed.
She liked walking along logs
With her eight little dogs.
Oma sings us songs every night
In the soft moonlight.
Georgia M age 9 LS7 Westmere school
My Nana’s Story
When my Nana was little,
she had little to do.
She ate chocolate,
from the chocolate fondue.
She got in trouble, but that didn’t stop her,
to have kids, at 16,
and move out for her own good.
She raised them good,
but not good enough.
She’s old now, and my dad is too.
She used to play tag,
now she plays the lotto.
She used to like pink,
now she’s in the red rose spirit.
She was very fit,
now she barely gets
out of the house.
There was not much to do,
so she sat on a couch,
Not on her computer like now,
because there was no such thing…
On her phone?
Why no, it’s like the last line
There was not much tech,
But there was a TV,
only one channel,
but that’s OK.
She had brothers,
to play games,
in the nice, cold, rain.
Anthony J LS7 Age:10 Westmere School
Like this:
Like Loading...
