Mrs Darwin by Carol Ann Duffy

7 April 1852
Went to the Zoo
I said to Him-
Something about that Chimpanzee over
there reminds me of you

A limerick

There was an old man called Fitzurse
When asked what his line was, said, "Verse
Advanced echolalia
Has made me a failure
I'll be making up rhymes in my hearse.''

Young Poets by Nicanor Parra

Write as you will
In whatever style you like
Too much blood has run under the bridge
To go on believing
That only one road is right.

In poetry everything is permitted.

With only this condition of course,
You have to improve the blank page. 

Things I have been doing lately by Allan Ahlberg

Things I have been doing lately:
Pretending to go mad
Eating my own cheeks from the inside
Growing taller
Keeping a secret
Keeping a worm in a jar
Keeping a good dream going
Picking a scab on my elbow
Rolling the cat up in a rug
Blowing bubbles in my spit
Making myself dizzy
Holding my breath
Pressing my eyeballs so I become temporarily blind
Being very nearly ten
Practising my signature...

Saving the best till last.

TEACHER'S PRAYER by Allan Ahlberg

Let the children in our care
Clean their shoes and comb their hair;
Come to school on time- and neat
Blow their noses and wipe their feet.
Let them, lord, not eat in class
Or rush into the hall en masse.
Let them show some self-cotrol;
Let them slow down; let them stroll!


Let the children in our charge
Not be violet or large;
Not be sick on the school-trip bus,
Not be cleverer than us;
Not be unwashed, loud or mad,
(with a six-foot mother or a seven-foot dad).
Let them, please, say 'drew' not drawed';
Let them know the answers, lord!