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Poems on the Internet


The King sent for his wise men all
To find a rhyme for W.
When they had thought a good long time,
But could not think of a single rhyme,
"I'm sorry," said he, "to trouble you."

James Reeves (1909-1978)


When I lived in London and travelled by tube I enjoyed Poems on the Underground — poems printed as adverts on the tube trains, sponsored by the Poetry Society.

Some I liked enough to scribble down as I travelled.

Others I picked up from children's poetry books which I used to read to my first son when he was little, and from other sources.



On the Ning Nang Nong

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can't catch 'em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!


Spike Milligan



The Common Cormorant

The common cormorant (or shag)
Lays eggs inside a paper bag,
The reason you will see no doubt,
Is to keep the lightning out.

But what these unobservant birds
Have failed to notice is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

Christopher Isherwood

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