The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

I Am Not in the Mood Today

I don’t know why. I just can’t say.
I DON’T like painting
WON’T play chase
I WANT to have a grumpy face
I DON’T like stories
DON’T want rhyme
I don’t like ITCHY carpet time
I don’t like holding hands with BEN
I SHAN’T lend Emily my pen
I DO NOT WANT to ‘get along’
I SHAN’T sing The Together Song
I DON’T like sand
I DON’T like clay –
I am not in the mood today.
I WANT to scribble in felt tip
I WILL stick out my bottom lip
I LIKE to grumble, huff and puff
I WANT my shoes to get all scuffed
MY hands don’t feel like being kind
If I’m told off then I DON’T MIND!
I DON’T want to be on my own
But like to shout ‘LEAVE ME ALONE!’
MY ‘INSIDE VOICE’ HAS GONE AWAY –
I am not in the mood today.
Tomorrow I will eat my snack
Tomorrow nice me will come back
Tomorrow I will laugh and play –
I am not in the mood today.

About the Writer


Sarah Ziman

Sarah is originally from Wales, now living in Hertfordshire. She prefers to write poetry for children, though thinks that the best poems can be enjoyed by people of all ages. She has three times been highly commended in The Caterpillar Poetry Prize, and won first prize in the 2021 YorkMix Poems for Children Competition. Her work has appeared in anthologies published by Macmillan, OUP, Pomelo Books and Candlestick Press, and various print magazines and online journals. Her first solo collection for children, 'Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It?' comes out in September 2024 with Troika.