Fairy Dance

Down in the meadow
it's raining today.
Fairies are dancing.
They've come out to play.

Having a party,
they're drinking tea
and they've invited
both you and me.

They're eating cookies
and small cakes with cream
and they'll disappear
when we wake from our dream.


    Do you like having tea parties?  If you were to have one, who would you invite?  What would you eat?  Can you write your own poem about a tea party?



Today is Poetry Friday and  Diane Mayr at Random Noodling is hosting the roundup.  You can find more links to poetry here.  Thank you Diane for hosting us this week.

THE CRACKERS

Someone ate all the crackers.

     Was it you?

Must have been real lip-smackers.

     Was it you?

Did you eat crackers with your tea?

     Was it you?

You didn't save even one for me.

     Was it you?

I only wanted to eat a few.

     Was it you?

I miss those crackers.

     Oh, boo-hoo.


  This is a poem for two voices. Can you try writing your own poem for two (or more) voices today? Perhaps you'd like to work with a friend to write the poem. Have fun writing. 
    Michael McFee has a fun poem about Saltine crackers. You can read that poem here.

The Elegant Elephant

An elegant elephant
sat for tea
and used her napkin
most delicately.

She tried to be dainty,
as you may suppose,
when using her napkin
to cover her nose.

But the napkin was huge
and as long as a hose.
When she unfurled it,
it dropped under her toes.


    This is a poem about manners.  Can you try writing your own poem today about something mannerly?  Who might give you advice as when to say please or thank you?  Do you have a favorite animal you can make the main character of your poem?  Have fun writing.

    I was having so much fun saying elegant elephant that I tried to think of other things that would distinguish an elephant, making her elegant.  Do you think she would wear a hat to a tea party?


    A elegant elephant
wore a flowered hat
it slipped off her head
whenever she sat.

January 10, 2015

Drinking real China tea
from little porcelain cups
learning Mandarin

     When I visit foreign countries I like to pick up a few of the words in the language of that country.  When I visited Kenya, I was quite pleased with my ability to pick up Swahili and all the Kenyans were very helpful with supplying new words for me.  Not so in China.  For some reason I had a terrible time getting my tongue around their vowels.  And if I'd try a word in Chinese, the person I would be talking to would immediately respond in English. For some reason I had a much harder time with Chinese.  Maybe it was all those vowel combinations having a different sound, or perhaps the x sounding like an s, or the z sounding like ds.  But the zh sounds like dge as in hedge.  See what I mean?  Next time I go to China, I'm going to invest in a language program before I go.  So all I learned was xiexie for thank you and nihao for hello.  I think Disney needs to do a movie about a Chinese animated character using lots of Chinese words, maybe that way I'd learn more words.  Hey, it worked for my learning African words. Jumbo, akumba metata.

Let's Be Pals

Won't you please
come for tea?
Bring you doll,
arrive at three.

We'll sit and talk,
have a good time.
I'd like you to be
a friend of mine.

We can eat cake,
us two gals.
I hope we'll become
the best of pals.

      What things do you do when you are trying to make a new friend?  Can you write a poem about your friends, making friends, or how to be a friend, today?  Have fun writing.