Wednesday 18 December 2013

Season’s Greetings



Who’s happy today?
I am.
Look, I am smiling and can say
YIPEEEEEEE

Why?
Well, because December is a season to celebrate.
All
Around
The
World

December 8 is Bodhi Day,
That remembers Buddah meditating.
We can learn more about that in books and online!
Hannukah is a festival of lights
A special Jewish holiday!
What can we learn about that?

A very old festival is called Yule
Maybe you know that word already.
It is celebrated with singing and food,
A 12 day festival in December.
Christmas happens, too, we know,
At the same time of year. There’s food, and singing,
Family, too, and gifts and a baby Jesus.

Kwanzaa, that’s another one,
A great celebration of African culture,
The name means ‘first fruits of the harvest’
And cheering and happiness too.
Dongzhi Festival’s something you can see in China,
Japan, Korea, Vietnam too
It marks the winter solstice
As many people also do – what date is that this year I wonder?

For the Zuni and Hopi there’s Soyal on that date,
Bringing the sun back awake from his sleep.
It marks another wheel of the year,
Purification and blessings.
Pancha Gapati honours Lord Ganesha,
Who is important to Hindu friends.
Five days of blessings and love and hope.
Maybe we can learn more here too.

Everyone is happy
At this time of year,
Giving thanks and helping each other out,
Remembering those who have come before,
And looking forward to many more times
With family, friends
People we meet
All
Around
The
World

YIPPEEEEEEEEEE



Tuesday 10 December 2013

Waffles

There’s a country called Holland.
Stop this poem and find it on a map.
Ah hello, I see you are back.
It’s also called the Netherlands.

Next door there is a place called Belgium.
Stop again and find that place.
Did you find Belgium? That’s ace!
It’s small too, but important.

Because here in this area
Almost a thousand years ago
Was invented a delicious food
Called the waffle, yeah!

The word wafel was originally Dutch
Because they have their own language
It is a big advantage
To speak it, oh, so much.

In English, we call it a waffle
It is of course a kind of dough
Cooked in a special waffle iron, you know.
You can eat it with sliced apple

Or butter, or chocolate, or fruit
Whatever flavour that suits you, man
Maple syrup, cream, honey, jam
Whatever things you like to chew

If we may stop one last time, we
Can find California on a map
Aha you have returned, come back
All this running is making me hungry.


Wednesday 4 December 2013

Swimming



I read in a book, a book I trust,
That every single one of us
Me, you, the teacher too,
The man down the road who is eating some stew,
We all are 50 per cent water.

Not to say, to say a lie,
It doesn’t mean that you and I
Splash, walk, splosh and talk,
But that all of our cells, skin, heart and all,
Are made, in part, of moisture.

So, let’s think, think of a way
To cool down on a summer’s day
Hey, yo, why don’t we go
To a swimming pool, sometimes called a Lido
And front crawl through the water?

Which strokes, strokes to swim
Do we know, what do we think?
Doggy paddle, breaststroke, back,
Butterfly and more - just depends what
Way we want to float-a.

And in LA, LA has beaches
Perched upon an ocean that reaches
All the way to Japan! Hey
I guess it would be best
Not to swim all that way, instead
Just to enjoy the water.

We can learn, learn to swim
And sometimes use our water wings
It’s fun, and healthy, that’s for sure
I wonder if that’s all because
We’re all half made of water?