The Mrs Butler Blues

I’ve got the Teach-them-in-the-morning- Playground-duty- Teach-them-in-the-afternoon blues. My head’s like a drum; My feet, cold and sore. I’m feeling so glum; Can’t take any more. I’ve got the Teach-them-in-the-morning- Playground-duty- Teach-them-in-the-afternoon blues. I’ve got the Please-Miss-Tracey’s-eating- Where’s-the-hamster?- Miss-I’ve-broke-my-ruler blues. My hair’s full of chalk. There’s paint on my dress. It hurts when I talk. My handbag’s a mess. I’ve got the Please-Miss-Tracey’s-eating- Where’s-the-hamster?- Miss-I’ve-broke-my-ruler blues. I’ve got the Teach-them-till-I’m-weary- Parents’-evening- Don’t-get-home-till-midnight blues. I know it’s a job That has to be done, But I’d rather rob A bank with a gun. I’ve got the Teach-them-till-I’m-weary- Parents’-evening- Don’t-get-home-till-midnight blues. One more time: Teach-them-in-the-morning blues. Hmm! How’d you like to be in my…shoes?...
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Jamaican song

Little toad little toad mind yourself mind yourself let me plant my corn plant my corn to feed my horse feed my horse to run my race – the sea is full of more than I know moon is bright like night time sun night is dark like all eyes shut Mind – mind yu not harmed somody know bout yu somody know bout yu Little toad little toad mind yourself mind yourself let me build my house build my house to be at home be at home till I one day vanish -the sea is full of more than I know moon is bright like night time sun night is dark like all eyes shut Mind – mind yu not harmed sombody know bout yu sombody know bout yu From Only One of Me. ...
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Carnival Dance Lesson

Poem from Dancing in the Rain by John Lyons One two three, you can dance like me. With arms held high that's how you start, let deh music touch your heart. One two three, you can dance like me. Yuh muss be relax, I insist, wine wid de riddum. jerk yuh waist. Shake up, jump up, BACCHANAL! Lehwe celebrate, is carnival. One two three, you can dance like me. Jump in the band, let us have some fun, happy times have now begun. One two three, you can dance like me. Boodum-di-dum! Boodum-di-dum! You can dance like me. ...
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Carnival Jumbie

Poem from Dancing in the Rain by John Lyons Jumbie jump high Jumbie jump low Jumbie jumpin to calypso Jumbie doin a dance in de silk-cotton tree he waitin for jouvay an steelban music to breakaway Jumbie jump high Jumbie jump low Jumbie jumpin to calypso At six in de morning steelban come out people winin dey body ole mas all about Jumbie jump high Jumbie jump low Jumbie jumpin to calypso Jumbie jump in a steelban an everybody know when he move he body he's like a black-smoke shadow Jumbie jump high Jumbie jump low Jumbie jumpin to calypso Jumbie have no flesh he have no waist to hol' buh jus look how he movin' wid no bumsey to roll Jumbie jump high Jumbie jump low Jumbie jumpin to calypso ...
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Siren Song

Poem from Falling Out of the Sky. Poems about Myths and Monsters by Piercey, Rachel and Wright, Emma Sirens! The cry went round the ship as swift as if they'd sighted home and every sailor felt the grip of fear and gather in a throng, for no man can resist the song of sirens luring them to come, and run their ships  into the rocks by chasing the enchanted tones. Tie me! cried Odysseus, Here are ropes, the mast is strong; now bind me tight so I may hear the rapture of the spells they cast and yet be helpless to respond; then plug this beeswax in your ears and we'll be safe from the siren song! The ship salied hesitantly past the outcrop where sirens lay, and each one skimmed her voice across the waves, and each voice crept and slid and whispered to Odysseus: Oh captain, turn your ship our way and you will have your heart's desire, for we know everything there is of gods and men, of land and sky, and every deed that's been and done and every deed that is to come... And if...
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Song

A song is simply words that are intended to be set to music. Music and poetry have always gone together. As Jennifer Watson says song lyrics can be a way into poetry for children who feel disconnected with it as a literary form. The earliest poems are likely to have been sung and chanted, and many of the elements that make poems hang together; rhyme, metre, alliteration, repetition and refrain are musical in character. Nursery rhymes are our first encouters with sung poetry for example Row, Row, Row Your Boat Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream, Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream, If you see a crocodile, Don‛t forget to scream - Aghh!...
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Small quarrel

She didn’t call for me as she usually does. I shared my crisps with someone else. I sat with someone else in assembly. She gave me a funny look coming out. I put a pencil mark on her maths book. She put a felt-pen mark on mine. She moved my ruler an inch. I moved hers a centimetre. I just touched her PE bag with my foot. She put the smallest tip of her tongue out. She dipped her paint brush in my yellow. I washed mine in her paint water. She did something too small to tell me what it was. I pretended to do something. I walked home with her as usual. She came to my house for tea....
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