Children Poems | Poemist

Popular Children Poems

The Slave Dealer

by Thomas Pringle

From ocean's wave a Wanderer came,
With visage tanned and dun:
His Mother, when he told his name,
Scarce knew her long-lost son;
So altered was his face and frame
By the ill course he had run.

There was hot fever in his blood,
And dark thoughts in his brain;
And oh! to turn his heart to good

......

Song Of The Open Road

by Walt Whitman

AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune--I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road.

The earth--that is sufficient;
I do not want the constellations any nearer;

......

Fern Hill

by Dylan Thomas

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.

......

The Queen's Rival

by Sarojini Naidu

QUEEN GULNAAR sat on her ivory bed,
Around her countless treasures were spread;

Her chamber walls were richly inlaid
With agate, porphory, onyx and jade;

The tissues that veiled her delicate breast,
Glowed with the hues of a lapwing's crest;

But still she gazed in her mirror and sighed

......

Travel

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I should like to rise and go
Where the golden apples grow;--
Where below another sky
Parrot islands anchored lie,
And, watched by cockatoos and goats,
Lonely Crusoes building boats;--
Where in sunshine reaching out
Eastern cities, miles about,
Are with mosque and minaret
Among sandy gardens set,

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Recent Children Poems

Sweet child in time

by Mario Odekerken

The child stands before the slow turning of the world,
unaware of the full measure of its cruelty.
There is a stillness in the air,a fragile quiet that feels almost safe,
yet beneath it something restless stirs.
They look ahead with eyes unmarked by experience, but already the shadows of conflict brush against their gaze.
Somewhere beyond the horizon, lives are being broken by the cold mechanics of violence,
though the child cannot yet name it.
They have not learned the language of loss,
but they will.

......

Smiles Throughout the Weeks

by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Ben and Cora Green had seven children, like calendar pages turning;
Each one born on a different weekday, like mango sun, forever burning.

Zoe was pretty, with big eyes and dimples, while Leah loved dancing,
Yet, Bill was sort of a pessimist; like when mystic trouble is glancing.

Edward had a zeal for jogging, while Ruth ran many errands for free.
James always had a part time job. Pete was all sunshine, very happy.

Fun barbecues attracted friends, to lawns of families and red flowers;

......

Bien venido

by Aldo Kraas

Bien venido
God's children
Bien venido
To a beautiful day
Let's not waste that day
By sleeping in
If we sleep in we will
Not sleep at night
So we must enjoy this
Day

......

The Sky Never Answers

by Ayatullah Nurjati

On the silent night roof, I asked a question to the sky that stretched like an old wound that never healed.
"Why is this world so quiet even though it is full of screams?"
"Why is justice only a shadow, while injustice sits on a magnificent throne?"

The sky was silent.
The stars twinkled as if avoiding me.
The clouds passed without any intention of explaining.
The wind just passed by, like a friend who didn't know what to say.
I kept asking—until my heart became an echo that bounced into my own chest.

......

Quite a Sight

by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Phoebe and her brother and sisters loved to play, like capricious wind;
And many robust children lived nearby, like green nature, an old friend.

The Clarks lived in town, like turquoise neptune, in caramel sun orbit;
And also relied upon retiring early, to enable early rising. Dewy carpets!

Father worked daily in the factory, while Mother was a proficient artist,
Who created magic, colorful abstracts; like darkest nights of stardust!

Flawed, russet sky wept freely all night, to the dismay of fallen flowers;

......