The following poems are early draft versions taken from the full collection, Astro Poetica. Out Now. Click HERE to buy.
Sunrise
Why does the sun
Rise each morning?
To see the smile
On your face dawning.
Stargazers
Unlock their bedtimes
Lift their faces to the sky
Show them how to stare and gasp
At things beyond what we can grasp.
Rockets
Sharpened pencils
poking through
paper clouds
these machines
sketch plans
in the only space
big enough
for our ideas.
Mercury
On again
Off again
Hot
And cold again
That temper then
Will be
The death of you
You’ll see.
Venus
Steamed up windows
Glint in your sky
You’ll worry
The worlds
And charm
The eye.
Earth
Through fire and ice
Through sorrow and loss
You tamed a star
Raised a family
And held a job
When all around
Threw away their fortunes.
Mars
You might well blush
After all
The horrid torrid
Stories you’ve sold,
Of little green men
And terrors untold.
Jupiter
Beach ball, beach
And sea
He sits
Twisted and twirled
By his children
Until the colours
Of a trillion sunsets
Sediment the sky.
Saturn
The potter’s wheel
Turns you in its
Wild dance and
Spins your plates
Through shadow
Fingers and yet
You stay
Forever clay.
Uranus
Still sleeping
Where you tumbled,
Skirt hoops showing,
That rude blue bum
Raises a smile
In all of us.
Neptune
Where would we be?
Lost at sea.
Who would you save?
Only the brave.
Pluto
Poor Pluto
That acne’d cousin
Tricked into counting
Hide and seek
For far too long.
Your party ended
Your parents left
Laughter travels far.
Space Sound
In space there is no sound
when wonders happen
when a star explodes
or asteroids crash
or a black hole sucks
or a rocket zooms
or galaxies collide but
if we look up at the right moment
and stand beside the right person
and listen at the right time
we might hear the sound
of someone whispering
“You mean more to me
than all of this.”
—
We want children to enjoy learning about space. You can get some lovely apps which will help by clicking this link.
Illustration courtesy of, and copyright, Jools Wilson. Follow her on Twitter.