The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Antipodean Wishlist

I want to be a wallaby
and jump the British queue.
I want a pouch to hide things in
just like a kangaroo.

I want to be a crocodile
with SatNav in my tail,
I’d set a course through mangrove swamps
to find my quarry’s trail.

I want to be an emu
in a touring funk rock band.
I’d use my three-toed feet
to stamp out rhythms on the land.

I want to be a python
with a jaw that can unlock
so when I came across some sheep
I’d swallow the whole flock.

I want to be a cockatoo
and dance and twirl around.
I’d salsa in the gum tree grove
and hip-hop on the ground.

I want to be a platypus
with wings to lift me high.
I’d lay an egg while soaring up
to drop on passers-by.

Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder
Picture by Su Ryder

About the Writer


Emma Storr

Emma lives in Yorkshire. Her poems have appeared in several anthologies and magazines and won prizes in local and national poetry competitions. Her debut pamphlet Heart Murmur was published by Calder Valley Poetry in 2019. In 2022, Fair Acre Press published Offcumdens, featuring 41 of Emma’s poems paired with Bob Hamilton’s photographs of Yorkshire ‘s people, streets and landscapes. Her most recent collection is The Year of Two Winters (Indigo Dreams Publishing 2023).