Just over 30 years ago, Julie Meddows, at the time a valley resident, compiled and edited a booklet titled ‘Children of the Valley, a collection of poems’. The booklet was published by the Kangaroo Valley P&C Association in 1993, and the present P&C has given me permission to feature the poems in the Voice.
As I was in the valley at the time, and lived next door to the KV School which my three children attended, I knew most of the children featured. Of course, they are now mothers and fathers of their own children, and some no longer live in the valley.
Since there are many poems in the booklet that I thought it appropriate to publish in the Voice, perhaps a couple could appear in each issue, which will take several months of submission. The foreword to the booklet just about sums up the wonderful minds and lives of children aged from 5 to 12 in their own world, so I have reproduced the following from the book.
“When our children pick up a pen to draw, or a brush to paint, we witness art in its purest form. That splatted dandelion is an orchid, the stick person is someone dearly loved, the spiked blob, a brilliant moon. When children write poetry they paint pictures with words, brushing in that same raw honesty. As we grow older these primitive pictures fade and poetry loses its colour, its essential truth, and more often its simplicity.
The poetry of our children’s world is irreplaceable.
In this collection of poems by the children of Kangaroo Valley, the child in you will live again, refreshed by the beauty, tragedy, and humour of a child’s world, painted in words.
It is also a tribute to our teachers at Kangaroo Valley Public School and the parents who encourage and inspire our children to write poetry.
We hope you enjoy the collection of poems.”
Sadly, Julie Meddows passed away a couple of years ago.
Bruce Preston
Sam Fletcher (11)
The Drought
Outback Australia is in the middle of a drought
There aren’t many buds ready to sprout
The ground is sandy, like a beach
It’s not even moist enough, for a little black leech
The ground is hard, as hard as stone
You wouldn’t like to be out there, all alone
Kathryn Morgan (9)
Imagine That
The elephants drinking from the Nile
Alligators and crocodiles smile
Tigers prowl the deepest jungle
And Buffaloes they weigh a bundle
Fighting pythons scare you away
And Lions roaring everyday
Imagine That
Jemeema Carrigan (9)
A Magical Poem
If you lie down and look around
You might be lucky and see a fairy nymph
Or some magical creature like that
If you lie down and listen you might hear
The busy little beetles working away, looking
After their young and doing all the housework
If you are quiet, lie down, look around
And listen, you will see and hear
A lot of magical things
