I recall an advertising jingle for toothpaste that was frequently broadcast during my childhood. It went- 'You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.'   Naturally, as kids do, we amended the wording to, 'You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with wet cement.' I am sharing this little memory because one day last week my wife Vicki remarked on the spring weather and mentioned its frustrating variability. The day before had delivered welcoming sunshine and a bright blue sky. This new day  had quickly morphed into a drab grey sky with clouds packing the promise of rain. The wind was slicing through the garden.  Sun lover Vicki, remarked, 'I wonder where the sun went.' It was at this point that old jingle sparked to life in my mind. It was an ideal poetic provocation. So I scooped it up and words began romping around in my head. A little while later, a poem began to reveal itself in my notebook. I fu...

 I have had a most productive week of writing. -Some great publishing news on two projects and a couple of school visits where I got to work with several classes of early years writers who blew me away with their brave writing efforts. I also launched a brand  new website  . These events put me in a bouyant mood, so I decided to have a little fun with words and today I am sharing this cheeky, playful poem... Poets need to indulge in wordplay and this poem  goes to that place.  Hideaway Poem I had intended sharing A poem with you But it lost its nerve And has shut itself away Inside a book of poems Refusing to come out. Maybe it’s hoping William Wordsworth Will offer it some daffodils Maybe it secretly longed to be a sonnet Or part of Tennyson's Light brigade.   There’s no rhyme or reason For this… The stanzas stand up The imagery is intact The alliteration aligned   In the meantime Here’s some white space To cast your ...

Today I'm going wild. Wild animal that is...  T he crocodile and the warthog might not rate highly on a most popular animal list, but they do possess some fascinating traits, and so I am sharing poems about these wild things, these far from mild things.  Crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. I have made a point of visiting them in Kakadu National Park, from a safe viewing distance. I wanted to obtain some snaps without getting snapped myself.  The Warthog is  a wild, somewhat unsociable member of the pig family found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. The world of poetry is no stranger to poems about animals, but I doubt these two are overly represented. ..    Warthogs Warthog, wide jawboned face With dangerous tusks Struts across the open plain All warty and snorty Its tail pointing up Like an aerial.   Warthog, too lazy to hunt munches on the ...