Having a few days in Cairns with the Keating,
being there for Josh’s birthday, and having time
with the family especially Lachie and Cammie was fun
and one of the highlights of last month.
My Christmas poem for 2018 was seeded there (on next post)
and I had great fun writing poetry with the boys.
One of our highlights was our walk through the Cairns Botanical Gardens
Cairns
by Lachlan and Grandma
Cairns
By Lachlan Keating
The thing I like about the tropics
is the vegetation
The coloured leaves amaze me
pink, red, purple and white
mottled, patterned dotted and striped
so you think leaves are only green
with chlorophyll to catch the sun
well come here with us all of you
to the tropics and have some fun
and you will be amazed too.
*********
Two to three
by Lachlan Keating
From our balcony
in the palm tree
last night we saw a nest
With two eggs
This morning
the mother was on the nest
but when she flew off
to sit on a nearby branch
there were three eggs!
( The story didn’t end there. Lo and behold the next morning there were four eggs.
When we did our research we discovered she is a Friar Bird. Friar birds lays one egg a day, laying from two to five eggs. Yet five eggs is very rare. Did we have a rare bird? We waited till this morning and when she left her nest to sit on a nearby branch and sing her morning song there were still four. So she is special but not rare . Now she will sit for many hours a day to incubate the eggs and they will hatch in about 28 days. I wish we could stay in our Air B&B till then but we have to leave this beautiful sight at the end of the week. Maybe the next guests will enjoy the developments )
The Blue Balloon
The Blue Balloon
by Lachlan Keating
In the pool
we had a blue balloon
we blew it up
got the end
and pulled it down
half way under the water
and we let it go
wham!
it flew up into the sky
we got a shock it went so high!
Tricking Grandma
by Cameron Keating
When Grandma was resting
on the towel
I snuck over to the pool
and filled my balloon up
with water and air
then I crept back
over to Grandma
and squeezed
the balloon really hard
and sprayed water
all over Grandma.
Waterfalls
by Grandma, Lachie and Cammie
We swim in the cold wet gorges
and it is fun,
diving and jumping off rocks,
playing in the sun.
Splashing under waterfalls
resting on warm ledges
we listen out for bird calls.
The sign says no crocodiles
for miles and miles and miles,
but we still look out
and keep our eye about.
When you swim in gorges
in the month of May
the splashing water falling
is lots and lots of fun
jumping in in such a ball
but later, some say
when the dry comes in
and there is a very hot sun
it would be a miracle
to see a cascading waterfall
Territory Day
by Lachlan and Cameron Keating
edited and typed by Grandma
Alice was on fire
on Territory Day.
Boom buzz bang
wham whiz whirl
kabam pop bomb
surprises
twist and twirl
the sky lit up
red like fire
purple like blueberries
green like grass
and blue too
it was such fun
all colours of the rainbow
orange and yellow too
like stars and balls of sun.
****
Both boys having been learning about Haiku
( A small poem originating in Japan.) It consists of three lines
Line 1 has a beat of 5
Line 2 has a beat of 7 and
Line 3 has a beat of 5
This is good for the boys as they learn to count the number of beats
and to think of a story and have the discipline of the form. However Modern Haiku like to write less then 5 – 7 – 5.
The first two Haiku were written by the boys for their home schooling.
Birds
flocks of colour glide
wings flapping swooping diving
flying feathered friends
Lachlan Keating
Water
deep pools of water
floating flowing tingling skin
cold splash kicking fun
Cameron Keating
More haiku by Cammie and Grandma having fun
blue Cassowary
in the Daintree National Park
walking on our track
***
Cassowary bird
you surprised us in the bush
with your tiny chick
***
munching little fish
an humongous crocodile
while we were watching
***
vicious crocodile
with sharp teeth and scaly skin
we won’t swim with you
***
scary crocodile
we know you are hiding
in that swimming hole
