I grew up with adults who frequently made up names for items when they couldn't recall the official name of the said item. Colourful terms have arisen across time for naming these puzzling items. I use them myself, I must admit... Do you hear adults using such words? So, I share this poem, celebrating some of those colourful words.  Remember, sometimes poetry gets its spark from wordplay.   Dooverlackie When my Dad fixes things Around our house He sometimes asks me to help He calls me his apprentice He calls me his fetcher He calls himself Mr. Fixit He asks me to pass him the things he needs Pass me the dooverlackie Says Dad Dooverlackie? Yes, beside the whatchamacallit Watchamacallit? Yes, under the thingamajig Thingamajig? That’s right, I need to unscrew the doodad on the gizmo Oh… So I hand him what I think might be the dooverlackie And just hope I’m right No, says Dad That’s a… That’s a dohickey I only use tha...

Poetry at Brighton Primary School, Adelaide, South Australia Recently I had the special treat of working with Year 7 poets from Brighton Primary School in Adelaide. During the day we closely examined a range of poetic structures and devices and applied them to our writing of poetry. With one group I introduced Suzanna Marshak’s  powerful book ‘I Am The Ocean’ to alert these enthusiastic poets to the potential power of writing through a mask and using personification. Another group looked at personification through their connection to things in the world around them.  Pre-writing discussion followed by intensive writing. Using the poem,  ‘I Am These Things And More’  as a model.  Students were challenged to think about these important connections. A particular focus of the writing was to try to incorporate effective use of repetition, line breaks, simile and white space in their composed pieces. These young poets talked in groups and ident...

It is said writers often tell a story many times before they get around to writing them down. Well, that is certainly the case with this early childhood experience. I have told this story many times across the years and now I have finally taken the step of writing those words down in the form of this narrative poem. It is important to realize that events in our lives can spark ideas for poetry.  The events that are written about here happened quite some years ago, so they are my version of the truth as I recall it. Just like so many of life's experiences, it contains both happy and sad moments.  We must never forget writing is about both the mud and the flowers, the good and the bad, and sometimes we write about our embarrassing moments too... Enjoy! K i ss Ch a s e y   All the kids in the street Gathered in Alan Prebble’s Front Garden Bikes on the grass A gang of eight Milling around the shrubbery Talking Just talking ...