I have written mainly for children for more than 25 years. Work includes novels, picture books, poetry, radio stories and lots of material for publishers of educational packages. I love to help children discover the joy of reading. A NZ Literature grant (Choysa Bursary) boosted ego and effort in 1991. I shared the Writer Residency at Dunedin College of Education with David Hill in 2003 and in earlier years appeared fairly regularly in Children’s Book Awards candidates.
WRONG FIT is printed from my poetry book WHY ISN’T A COW CALLED A MERINGUE? that featured poems written from a child’s viewpoint.
WRONG FIT
My skin is all smooth, fitting ever so neat
from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.
But the skin on my Granny is no longer tight.
It’s wrinkly and crinkly and doesn’t fit right.
Has Granny – inside – sort of shrunk, so her skin
is now far too big for herself to be in?
Or has her skin grown two sizes bigger
and her inside part stayed as her usual-sized figure?
I don’t like to ask her which part isn’t right,
but I know one part’s changed ‘cos the fit isn’t tight.
Bellamys at Five 