Animal Magic is available from:

IRON Press and Amazon and bookshops from April

.

Leaf-Tailed Gecko

.

Moth-flat,

flecks and speckles

so exact

all along it,

.

as if the

mosses that

it’s on

lie upon it,

.

the branch’s

echo –

a leaf-tailed

gecko.

.

.

Uroplatus henkeli – Henkel’s leaf-tailed geckos have markings identical to the bark on which they lie. A flap of skin around their bodies breaks up their outlines and makes them even more cryptic. They are classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Animal Magic is available from:

IRON Press and Amazon and bookshops from April

.

.

Glass Frog

.

With frosted glass hands glistening

on stems green as his green,

.

and eyes of golden amber,

polished to a gleam,

.

glass frog is transparently

safe to sit and dream,

.

camouflaged by clarity,

close by his forest stream.

.

.

Hyalinobatrachium pellucidum It is possible to look right through the transparent skin on these frogs’ bellies and see their beating hearts. They are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – almost half the habitats suitable for this type of frog have been deforested.

Animal Magic is available from:

IRON Press and Amazon and bookshops from April 20

.

Snow Petrels

.

On skies and seas

veiled white with light,

snow petrels weave

and wheel in flight,

.

they glide and skim

from high to low,

a falling flock

of feathered snow.

.

In courtship chases

pair by pair

they braid their paths

of freezing air,

.

birds of Antarctic

paradise,

the cliffs, the sea,

the snow, the ice.

.

.

Pagodrama nivea – Snow petrels are not endangered, but of the 131 species of petrel and albatross, 62% have been classified by the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species as Extinct, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened.

]]> http://www.poetlizbrownlee.co.uk/site/snow-petrels/feed 0 http://www.poetlizbrownlee.co.uk/site/first-magnetic-board-poem-sent http://www.poetlizbrownlee.co.uk/site/first-magnetic-board-poem-sent#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:55:50 +0000 Liz http://www.poetlizbrownlee.co.uk/site/?p=339 Snow monster

I glide on ice,
glint in snow,
sleep at peace
beneath the moon.

cold clasp,
deep song,
glass heart,

melted to mist
by a warm breath.

Matt Bradley

Thank you Matt for a beautiful first poem.

Or post a poem!

Merry Christmas,

Liz

“I’ve come in to teach you the rest of this term -
my name is Miss Deed, I’m replacing Miss Squirm,
whose strain in directing you all in the play
caused her hair to fall out in that quite shocking way.

But I am already quite bald as you see,
if you’re naughty or horrid it won’t worry me -
I’ve punishments ready whatever arises,
right here in my book called ‘Dead Nasty Surprises’.

Now I hear your last hamster refused to be stroked,
because of his phobia about being poked -
Well, this is Nipper, and one of his charms
is he’ll love all your fingers – in fact he’ll eat arms.

Now just a few details to tell about me -
I never drink coffee, just cold nettle tea.
I’ll teach you to ‘spell’ and times up to thirteen,
and I must have a week off at each Hallowe’en”.

Then their silence was broken by panic filled screams,
class four left the room in hysterical streams -
they fled to the Head, where they I believe
said they’d be good, if I’m made to leave!

© Liz Brownlee

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He bit his nails, his fingers then
his compass, ruler and his pen,
then with a crunching quite grotesque -
chewed the top right off his desk.

The Head, when called, watched in despair
as Lloyd scoffed whiteboards and a chair.
He cried, ‘This problem must be beaten -
we’re not insured for being eaten!’

But Lloyd just opened up his jaw
and ate the lino off the floor,
gnashed ninety felt tips, teacher’s cup,
then gobbled bags of gym shoes up!

When year five’s P.C. byte by bite
followed their keyboard out of sight,
the children gasped, then saw with dread,
Lloyd’s eyes alight upon the Head!

With fervour, ‘PUDDING!’ Lloyd announced,
and with wild slaverings he pounced.
The Head yelled ‘STOP’ (his voice quite shrill)
‘I taste of greens, I’ll make you ill!’

And then Lloyd, when forced to pause here,
found he was quite green with nausea-
his mum was called: ‘Please do come quick,
for school has made Lloyd very sick!’

‘Caused by’, the Head said in stern warning,
‘Not eating breakfast in the morning!’

© Liz Brownlee

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© Liz Brownlee

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Hippos can open their mouths up to four feet wide… but they only eat grass and shrubbery. They always live in and near water, but they can’t swim because they are much too heavy. They stand on and walk along the bottom.

Because the places where hippos can live are getting fewer, they are in danger of becoming extinct.

© Liz Brownlee

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