I Wonder by Jeannie Kirby.
I wonder why the grass is green,
And why the wind is never seen?
The poet questions on why the color of the grass is green but not the other colors. In this world we have so many colors like blue, yellow and gray. However, we can only see green as the color of the grass throughout the Earth. The poet also questions on why is the wind cannot be seen. As human, we can feel things via the sense of touch through contacts made with our skin. Nevertheless, we cannot see the wind although we can feel it on our skin.
Who taught the birds to build a nest,
And told the trees to take a rest?
In the first line, the poet wonders who gave the birds the knowledge to build such a perfect nest to live on. This is because; most birds build their own nest for their little ones and for them to live. As compared to animals, human need to be taught to learn some skills or abilities. The second line shows the curiosity of the poet on the trees that don’t move like other living things.
O, when the moon is not quite around,
Where can the missing bit be found?
We all know that the moon is round in shape. However, sometimes the moon loses its shape and become half or three quarter of its real shape. The poet is curious on where would the other parts of the moon have gone to.
Who lights the stars, when they blow out,
And makes the lightning flash about?
The stars always appear at night but disappear as the morning comes. This occurrence makes the poet to think that there is a person who light up the stars as the night comes and the lightning flash in the night sky.
Who paints the rainbow in the sky,
And hangs the fluffy clouds so high?
Rainbow is the combination of 7 lines that appears in 7 colors after the rain stops. The poet is curious on how would the rainbow appear in the sky. Looking at the rainbow also makes the poet to question about the clouds located up in the sky that looks like they are hanging.
Why is it now, do you suppose,
That Dad won’t tell me, if he knows?
The poet is wondering on why his father refuses to explain all the questions above. This is maybe because of the poet is too small to understand all the consequences that happen naturally in this world.
Mr. Nobody : author unknown.
Mischief /m st f/ : bad behavior especially by children.
‘Tis /t z/ : literary it is; used specially in poetry.
Ajar / / : slightly open.
Scatters /sk t / : things that are thrown or dropped over a wide area in an irregular way.
Afar / / : from a distance away.
Squeaking /skwi k/ : to make a short high noise or cry that is not loud.
Prithee /pr / : please.
Damp /d mp/ : slighty wet.
Mislaid /m sl d/ : to put something somewhere then forget where you put it.
Tosses / t s/: to throw something especially light thing with a quick gentle movement of your hand .
Blinds /bl nds/ : cloth made to cover a window.
Fade /f d/ : to gradually disappear.
I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does mischief that is done
In everybody’s house!
There’s no one ever sees his face, and yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.
The funny little man mentioned in the poem is a little boy, perhaps three to five years old. This is because; a child within that age usually does not talk much rather than making things that require them to learn. However, they often create trouble to people around them. Like in this stanza, there are cracked plates but people tend not to scold them because they are in the learning process though people know they do it.
‘Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always squeak,
For, prithee, don’t you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.
The same thing happen mentioned in this stanza, the child creates another trouble in the house. Some of the troubles are the books have been torn, the buttons have been pulled out from the shirts and the pins are scattered. However, seeing that the little boy needs to learn, they leave the squeaking door to be oiled by the boy for him to learn.
He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last night but he?
There’s no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.
Within this age also, the child may be doing something that may annoy some other people. The examples are given in this stanza such as Mr. Nobody puts damp woods upon the fire which causes the kettle cannot be boiled, bringing the mud into the house and make the carpet soiled, and papers are mislaid. People know that no one could do such things except for Mr. Nobody.
The fingers marks upon the door
By no one of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade;
The ink we never spill; the boots
That lying around you see
Are not our boots-they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.
However, though people like Mr. Nobody is quite troubling, they need to be directed and to be taught the meaning of life. Not to forget they become like that because they are in the process of learning. Therefore, we as adult or people that are older and already matured must show a good talent for them to follow the right role model. For example in this stanza, Mr. Nobody does not know the meaning of privacy which he lets the door and the curtain open, leaving the boots not in the right place and spilling inks.
The River by Valerie Bloom
Valerie Bloom was born and grew up in Clarendon, Jamaica. She was enchanted with literature from a very early age; her work first entered the public arena when she won a national competition.
Valerie moved to England in 1979. Here she began writing and performing regularly. Valerie studied English with African and Caribbean Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury. She writes poetry in English and Jamaican patois for all ages. She has published several poetry books and two novels for young people while her work has been published in over 300 anthologies. As well as running writing workshops and courses, Valerie performs across the country and internationally; she has appeared everywhere from local libraries to the Royal Albert Hall. She is also a familiar voice on television and radio.
Valerie was awarded an MBE for her services to poetry in 2008, and has been awarded an Honorary Masters Degree from the University of Kent. She lives with her family in Kent and is inspired by everything around her. Caribbean life and culture remain a strong influence on her work.
Two of Valerie Bloom’s hugely popular poetry collections are available in one volume Hot Like Fire for the first time, puhblished by Bloomsbury in January 2009.
Wanderer /w nd r r/ : a person who moves from place to place and has no permanent home.
Nomad /n m d/ : a member of a tribe that travels from place to place instead of living in one place all the time, usually in order to find grass for their animals.
Tramp /tr mp/ : someone who has no home or job and moves from place to place, often asking for food or money.
Winder / w nd r/ :
Hoarder / h d r/ : hoard / h rd/ = a collection of things that someone hides somewhere, especially so they can use them later.
Gurgles /g g l/ : flows along gently with a low sound.
Hums /h ms/ : to sing a tune by making a continuous sound with your lips closed.
Vexed /vekst/ : old-fashioned to make someone annoyed or worried.
Gobbled /g b lt/ : to eat something very quickly especially in an impolite or greedy way.
The River’s a wanderer,
A nomad, a tramp,
He doesn’t choose one place
To set up his camp.
The poet compared the river to a wanderer because a wanderer does not choose a place to stay for a long time. Same goes to the river which continues flowing and never stops.
The River’s a winder,
Through valley and hill
He twists and he turns,
He just cannot be still.
This stanza explains that a river does not rest or stops. Even though there are valleys or hills upfront, the river will continue flowing by adapting the surface of the Earth.
The River’s a hoarder,
And he buries down deep
Those little treasures
That he wants to keep.
The poet is comparing a river to a hoarder because when the river flows, it won’t stop to evade things which come across its way. The river will carry all the things with it and bury them in the river bed.
The River’s a baby,
He gurgles and hums,
And sounds like he’s happily
Sucking his thumbs.
In this stanza the river is compared to a baby because a baby’s voice sometimes can be too loud and sometimes it can be too slow. Same goes to the river, whenever he goes fast down the stream the sound is loud and when it comes to a more flat ground, the sound lessen and sometimes it cannot be heard.
The River’s a singer,
As he dances along,
The countryside echoes
The notes of his song.
The sixth stanza compares the river to a singer seeing that the river’s movement is significant to the movement of a singer on the stage. While moving, the river moves with sounds and it is heard to the countryside.
The River’s a monster
Hungry and vexed,
He’s gobbled up trees
And he’ll swallow you next.
The river is said to be a monster because when the water level increases and the speed of the stream is boosted, it will be a disaster that no one could stop it until it alleviate itself.
Heir Conditioning by M SHANmughalingam.
In his school days at the V.I. from 1952 to 1958, Dato' M. Shanmughalingam was hyperactive in the debating, literary and drama fields. He was a member of the very successful school debating team and chairman of the Senior Literary and Debating Society. He topped the country in the 1956 Sixth Form Entrance Exam with 96% marks. He was the secretary and, later, joint editor of theSeladang, steering the V.I. newspaper through one of its most vibrant periods. He was in the first group of Victorians in 1958 to be awarded the coveted "Club 21" badge for meritorious service to the school.
Shan holds an Honours degree from the University of Malaya, a Masters from Harvard and a Doctorate from Oxford University. At Harvard he graduated first in class with Grade A in all eight subjects and was admitted to the Ph.D. programme directly without formal application. At Oxford he won the Getrude Hartley Memorial prize for Poetry and a graduate scholarship from Balliol College and the second prize in the Short Story competition judged by the novelist, Iris Murdoch and John Bayley, Prof. of Literature, and sponsored by ISIS, Oxford University and The Observer.
Shan's literary publications include poems and short stories in Commonwealth Anthologies (London) international anthologies (Singapore), in universities (Harvard, Malaya, Oxford and Singapore) and in national literary journals. He is co-editor of an anthology of Malaysian poetry.
Shan's works have been the subject of theses in universities in Malaysia and Germany and of a movie to be made in New Zealand. A video recording of his performance poetry with thirteen of his own poems has just been made for an Australian website on international poets.
Flustered /fl st rd/ : confuse or nervous.
Fluttered /fl t rd/ : insects or birds fly by moving their wings lightly up and down.
Necessities /n s s t s/ : something that you need to have in order to live.
Ignorance / gn r ns/ : lack of knowledge or information about something.
Pollution /p l n/ : the process of making air, water, soil etc dangerously dirty and not suitable for people to use.
Destruction /d str k n/ : the act or process of destroying something or of being destroyed.
Streams /str ms/ : a long and almost continuous series of events, people, objects etc.
Grand dad did you breathe
Before air cons were invented
Was it hard staying
Alive without modern inventions?
Grandma weren’t you flustered
As you fluttered with paper fans?
Could you communicate before
Faxes and long distance calls
Became basic necessities?
In the first stanza, the poet asks his grandparents about the life before the technology arouse and become the important usage in the world nowadays. He asks his grandfather was it complicated to live in the life without technology as he refers the technology to the invention of the air cons. Then he asks his grandmother regarding the condition when she used paper fans to cool herself. He also asks his grandmother what were the possibilities for them to communicate without faxes and long distance calls compared to the world nowadays.
Grandchild we lived
Before your age. Because
Of our ignorance,
We did not know
Pollution, stress, traffic jams
Destruction of forests, streams and
Hills
We feared God and nature
Now nature fears you and
Money is your new God.
The second stanza shows the answers given by the poet’s grandparents that sum up all the questions in one simple answer. The reason on why they did not experience all the pollution, stress, traffic jams, and destruction of forests, streams and hills is because of their ignorance; they were lack of knowledge by that time. His grandparents add, the only thing that they fear is God and nature but now, the nature turns to fear the entire human race and money is the only obsession to human.
A Fighter’s Lines by Marzuki Ali.
Worn /w rn/ : the past participle of wear.
Independence / nd pend ns/ : political freedom from control by the government of another country.
Remnants /remn nts/ : a small parts of something that remains after the rest of it has been used.
Crippled / kr p lt /: who is unable to walk properly because their legs are damaged or injured.
Deceit / d s t/ : behavior that is intended to make someone believe something that is not true.
Erect / rekt/ : in a straight upright position.
Heirs /er/ : the person who has the legal right to receive the property or title of another person when they die.
I am old and worn
And have lost all my strength
Sufferings
And the history of the fight for independence
Have forced sacrifices
That know no name
Or life
The first stanza explains on the condition of the poet who was once a combatant; a retired soldier. He is unable to fight anymore like he used to because he is old and has lost all the strength that he has had before. He explains that the war for independence sacrificed many lives.
From the wheelchair of the rest of my days
I, body and energy crushed
See and cannot do much
These times are too big a challenge
For the remnants of my crippled years
The net of deceit spread everywhere
Disturbs me.
In the second stanza, through the word wheelchair we can recognize that the poet is a paralyzed person. These days are too challenging for him as he is unable to do many things on the wheelchair for him to spend his spare life. He also includes that he is uncomfortable and disturbed by the dirtiness played by the people nowadays.
In the name of justice
Wake up and form ranks sons of our ancestors
Be brave
And erect a wall of people
Stand up heirs of our freedom
In the third stanza, the poet urges the youngsters to wake up and unite to speak for their freedom and continue as what they ancestors had done many years ago.
I have no more voice
It is you now who should speak
The last two lines shows that the poet has already given up and ready to give the responsibility to the new generation to continue their fight.
Leisure by William Henry Davies
Wm. Henry Davies (1871-1940) is to be considered as the poet of the tramps. Born at Newport, Wales in the UK, Davies came to America from Great Britain and lived the life of a vagabond. One day, as the result of jumping a train, he lost one of legs. Davies returned to England where he continued to live the life of a tramp and a peddler. He wrote poetry and eventually, he determined to print his own book and did so with the little money he earned panhandling. A copy of this first work, ASoul's Destroyer, came into the hands of George Bernard Shaw; which, in turn, led to the popularization of the poet.
Stare /ster/ : to look at something or someone for a long time without moving your eyes.
Bough /ba /: a main branch on a tree.
Streams /str m/ : it shines through an opening into a place or onto surface.
Glance /gl ns/ : to quickly look at someone or something.
Enrich / nr t / : to improve the quality of something
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
The poet asks of how this life would mean if we have the time to take a rest and feel the beauty of life.
No time to stand beneath the bough
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
Working people nowadays have no time to rest and have some leisure time as they are too busy earning money for living.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
We have no time to experience the fresh air and the excitement of spending time in the jungle watching how the nature of the Earth works as we are too busy working in the town.
No time to see, in broad daylight.
Streams full of stars, like stars at night.
Since nowadays people work very hard in the daylight, they turn to be tired at night. As a result, they have no time to enjoy the beauty of the night seeing that they need to sleep for their body need to rest to start working early in the morning the next day.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
We have no time to care about our mothers; how they take care of us and doing the house chores in order to raise us and to make us live in a happy and comfortable environment.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
We have no time to even take a look at our mothers to curve a smile again and the eyes that hide all the pain and suffer in raising us.
A poor life this is, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
The poet feels that a life without appreciating the nature is seen as a lifeless life because we don’t have the time for our self to care of the beauty of nature.
People nowadays seem to neglect the importance of exercise because of some circumstances. However, the word ‘circumstances’ here may best be replaced by the word ‘unaccepted reasons’! These people give thousands of excuses just because of their laziness that can be divided in many terms like money, time and work. 
We will feel more confident with ourselves if we have a good looking personality, a full control of ourselves and extra energy to work on our days. 