Children's Author
Helen Laycock
Poems and Stories
A Mouthful of Chuckles
Weird Beard
Boris, ’twas said, was a hundred years old
With a beard right down to his feet.
Amassed in the hair
Was all manner of fare
He’d spilled while attempting to eat.
Boris had oathed to dispose of all clothes –
His beard made a wonderful cloak.
It tickled a bit
And was awkward to sit
And muffled his voice when he spoke.
Often Boris would slip as his beard made him trip
Or entangled itself in his toes.
Reluctant to trim it
Or set a length limit,
He’d left it to grow and to grow.
The day did not come of a hundred and one,
The story is sad to be told…
For Boris got trapped.
In his beard he was wrapped
And cocooned there until he turned cold.
The Caterpillar is a great magazine full of poems, stories and art for children - and I have a poem in this edition!
This one, too!
Personal Preference
I don’t like pink or sparkly bling
or crowns and coronets or rings
or taffeta, or lace or silk
or sweet and frothy strawberry milk.
I don’t like lipstick, scent or soap
or notes in floral envelopes
or fairies, wands and glittered wings;
I’m just not into girlie things!
I like spiders, beetles, bugs,
hearty pats, not feeble hugs.
I like to climb and scrape my knees.
I’m not afraid of wasps and bees.
I like the space to say my piece,
to learn mechanics, smeared with grease.
I want to make things, find out more…
dice with danger, win, explore.
Please let me have the freedom
to take which parts I choose;
the world’s a gift to all of us
to cherish and to use.
Published on Poetry Roundabout for International Women's Day
If you can't read the story below, try the link in the blue box instead.
