and lastly … a tree fit for a Queen

I was blown away to get a drawing by Monica to go with her poem but I can’t seem to post it as it is a PDF (Monica was one of the Holiday Poem Camp fans). Her poems were just terrific. Posting this tree poem  is the perfect way to pack up camp and head home. I really enjoyed this Monica and I am in love with your drawing. Very mysterious and beautiful.

Thanks everyone who joined in writing and reading!

Hi Paula

Here is my tree poem, and a picture I drew for you. Hope you like it.

Monica

 

 

In the treetops

 

climbing upwards

my castle above

waves in the wind

to a beautiful dove

 

into my turret

I pull up the flag

my hut is amazing

I don’t mean to brag

 

smooth swaying branches

are easily seen

it’s the only place

where I can be queen

 

I love my palace

and it sure isn’t hard

to say my tree’s awesome

here in my backyard

 

 

Monica, age 11yrs, year 6, Russley School Christchurch

 

 

So it’s a Frish-frog!

I have a few poems that came in over the weekend for the Holiday Poem Camp. Ella had fun making up animals! Brava Ella.

Frish-frog and a fish. 
Eledog- well, okay, if you wish!
Jagare- with eyes like little black diamonds. 
Lingaroo- creating a new type called the Tesimons! 
Lizeko-quite big and really out there!
Storret- with vibrant orange hair.
Catnea-pig-really adventurous and bold.
Iguanion- naughty without having to be told!

Oh, my eccentric little pets,
You really are the best!

By Ella 
Ohaupo school
Year 8
13 YO

 

Holiday Poem Camp: Prize giving part two

Now for some favourite poems that got sent in for the camp.

I do want to say a big congratulations to Linda (and I loved your letters!), Fern, Poppy and Isak. I loved reading your poems and I do hope you send more in.

Ella goes to Ohaupo School and sent in a number of terrific poems. I particularly love her moon poems so I am sending her a copy of my book: Macaroni Moon (Random House, 2009). Congratulations Ella, I enjoyed your poems very much indeed. I hope to see more writing from you this year!

Moon

There,
I’d stand.
Alone.
The moon,
A pale goats cheese,
Floating,
So perfectly,
Amongst the ebony sky,
Studded with little pinpricks of quivering light.
My mouth,
Wide open,
My eyes,
Disbelieving,
At such beauty.
Pure, 
Untouched,
And real.
There,
I’d stand,
Alone.

By Ella Ohaupo School Year 8 aged 13

I was so blown away by the poems Monica sent in from Russley School in Christchurch, I am sending her a copy of Macaroni Moon too and a surprise poetry gift. Monica did pretty much every challenge. Here are some of my favourite poems she wrote: ‘Dreaming,’ ‘Moon,’ ‘Goodbye Cleo,’ ‘Mischief,’ ‘Octopus in the Desert’ (and there were many more!). Her poems are funny, surprising, sad, thoughtful and inventive. Congratalations Monica, reading your poems was an absolute treat (put her name in the sidebar and go hunt them out poetry fans!).

 

Sounds

 cats purring like a motor

pages turning like leaves

Mum sighing like wind

Dad snoring like thunder

wrapper crinkling like footsteps

clouds crying of sadness

me writing this poem

                like Wordsworth

By Monica    age 11yrs, Year 6, Russley School

 

Moon

silver eye

slowly closes

its lids

 

darkness rules

the sky

Holiday Poem Camp: the last challenge, take a tablespoon of imagination and a cup of tree

This is the last challenge for Holiday Poem camp (how these two weeks FLY!) so you can take all weekend to write this.

Lots of poems have written about trees (beautiful tree poems are everywhere you look). But I want you to write a surprising tree poem. It might be that this tree is invented, has extraordinary powers, strange habits, surprising bedfellows. It might be an ordinary tree but something surprising happened near it or to it.

You might write a funny poem, a nonsense poem, a strange poem, a mysterious poem, a sad poem, a happy poem, a thoughtful poem.

You might use rhyme: easy rhyme, tricky rhyme, hiding rhyme.

You might have to use a made-up word or two.

Go back to your first and last lines and play these. Run a competition and then pick the winners for your first and last spots!

Have fun!

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com. Include your name, age, year and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email if you like.

 

Holiday Poem Camp: Which Humpty Dumpty is this?

Monica took up the challenge to write a poem as though you are character in a nursery rhyme. It is very zany and fun to read. Read this poem out loud to someone!

 

Hi Paula,

Here’s my nursery rhyme character poem.

From

Monica

Age 11, year 6, Russley School

 

 

Humpty Dumpty

 

I really did not mean to fall,

it’s not my fault I am not tall,

I was only reaching for an apple

then fell off in front of the chapel

where two old eggs were playing  scrabble.

 

All I did was break my shell

and all my yolk well- out it fell,

that is the only true part of the story

that the king wrote but cause of his glory

everyone believed him- which was naughty.

 

So now I’ll tell you the real script:

I was lying there completely stripped ,

all my yolk running out of me

I was right there for someone to see

but no one, NO ONE helped me!

 

Finally I cried out ‘help!’

My yolk supply was running out.

This nice girl put a plaster on me,

at least this person really could see

that I needed first aid on me.

 

She took me home and we lived together

and I was happy…   FOREVER and EVER!

 

 

HOliday Poem Camp: Ewen has fun mixing up animals

This poem is fun to read!

Hi Paula,

This is my poem for the ‘Heads and toes animals’ challenge. Try and guess what the two I chose were…

The same

 

A porcugo

brown flamingo.

 

A flaminpine

pink porcupine.

 

A porcugo

prickly and small.

 

A flaminpine

long-necked and tall.

 

Porcugo, flaminpine

different but the same.

 

Ewen aged 11, Year 6, Fendalton Open Air Primary School, Christchurch

Ps. This challenge was heaps of fun!

Holiday Poem Camp: Step into someone else’s shoes!

Today’s challenge: Try writing a poem as if you were a character in a nursery rhyme. That’s it. You decide everything else!

Send to paulajoygreen@gmail.com Include your name, age, year and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email if you like.

PS Tomorrow is the last day of Holiday Poem Camp so let’s have a little tiny prize giving to celebrate. I do think the number one most important thing is to get writing and reading — then there is the sometimes bonus that something you write gets posted on Poetry Box. But there is nothing like a getting a parcel from the postie with a book inside, now and then, so when I can do it I will offer book prizes.

PPS I will give you a final challenge for tomorrow and over the weekend as well.

Holiday Poem Camp: another ice-cream poem to lick!

Monica’s poem might be a tasty treat but it is full of tasty sounds.

Dripping

 

creamy white

frozen hill

swirly moon

shiny glue

 

sun beams

cream drips

into puddles

by my shoe

 

Monica

Age 11, Year 6, Russley School, Christchurch

Holiday Poem Camp: I could hardly stand up straight!

Today at the beach it was so gusty I kept writing a poem in my head as I tried and tried to walk. So your challenge today is to write a wind poem. It is really hard to take a photo of a wind. You have to take a photo of what the wind is doing to things. So here I am trying to stay standing up, and in the next photo you can see the wind whipping up the sand. It was fierce and wonderful. That dog BTW is Nonu, named after the All Black (the dog’s ears are flying back!). So see what you can do to make the wind come alive in your poem. I have put my poem draft below for you to see.

Send your wind poem to paulajoygreen@gmail.com. Include your name, age, year and name of school. You can include your teacher’s name and email address if you like.

 

The Gale

This morning you walked into a brick wall

of wind at the beach,

the wind turning your raincoat

into flapping tent flaps,

the black sand rain filling

your eyes so you couldn’t see,

your hat tugged and lifted and spun

down the sand like a dune flower.

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Poem Camp: Ewen has a hot summer ice cream just for you!

Ewen has taken up my challenge to write a poem ice cream. She has played with the words on the line and ended with a very tasty poem indeed. When she sent it to me the second half of the poem was the colour of a cone which was really cool, but I haven’t managed to use colour on WordPress yet. Is it possible? Sometimes it is a real challenge getting the poem to look right on the screen. Maybe there is a better host to blog poems. Anyway great job Ewen!

A Hot Summer Ice Cream

Cold

frozen cream

oozy and sweet

summery it may seem

with such a boiling heat.

The weather hot with blue sky

the sun shining bright

finger licking good

a lick is

in my

sight.

Ewen aged 11, Year 6, Fendalton Open Air Primary School, Christchurch