English Poems From Muninn & Huginn Poem by Sheena Blackhall

The Mushroom Poem
Amethyst deceiver, the miller, the blusher
Ox's tongue, Jew's ear, lawyer's wig
Pied de mouton, chicken of the woods
Flesh brown blewit, the prince, blue leg

Cauliflower fungus, blue-yellow brittle gill
Charcoal burner, common puffball
Trooping funnel, autumn chanterelle
Slippery jack, porcini, aniseed funnel

Terracotta wood urchin, terracotta hedgehog
Two toned scalehead, sheathed woodtuft
Fairy ring, champignon, hairy fungus
Boot lace fungus, (some hard, some soft)

Oyster mushroom, parasol mushroom
Velvet toughshank, fawn shield cap
Brown birch roughstalk, rare and wonderful
Deep in the woodlands, crimson wax cap


Some Bairn Rhymes

Elm Farm Ollie
The first cow to fly in an aeroplane on 18 February 1930, as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis Missouri United States

I am the sky queen
Elm Farm Ollie
The first cow to fly
In an aeroplane jolly
The very first cow
To be milked in flight
A Guernsey matron
Of dairy delight


Mrs. O'Leary's Cow
Daisy the cow was said to have kicked over a lantern on the evening of October 8,1871, thus starting the Great Chicago Fire. On the anniversary of the fire, local parades, commemorations, and promotions would feature a woman dressed up as Mrs. O'Leary, leading a cow.

Kate O'Leary kept five cows
She milked them twice a day
She owned a horse that pulled a cart
She fed them all on hay

Daisy, her favourite, kicked a lamp
It set fire to the straw
That's how Chicago was burned down
Which was against the law


Little Witch
She was the World's fastest race cow. She won the 2004 World Wide Cow Racing Association's Udder Race running a mile in 9: 18: 12.

Little witch, the fastest cow
She won the Udder Race
Four cloven hooves on power drive
This bovine beast was ace!


Pauline Taft VIP
President Taft had a cow
The last cow to live at the White House.
Her name was Pauline Wayne
Her moos were melodious as Strauss

She shared the White House stables
With Taft's very chic carriage horses,
As well as his first fleet of cars
Her status this address endorses


Knickers
Knickers was a large Australian bovine. a neutered male. He was a Holstein Friesian. He lived on a cattle farm in Western Australia. Knickers stood 6 feet,4 inches from hoof to shoulder and weighed approximately 1.5 tons. He was bought for $400 to live as a coach among other cattle, showing them how to live on a farm.

Knickers was a mighty beast
As heavy's a small car
And when he trundled round the field
The pints shook in the bar

Collectives
a murder of crows, a crash of rhinos
a drove of donkeys, a pod of hippos
a gaggle of geese, a siege of herons
a charm of goldfinches, a pride of lions

a spring of teal, a business of ferrets
a parliament of owls, a pandemonium of parrots
a confusion of chiffchaffs, a wake of buzzards
an asylum of cuckoos, a lounge of lizards

a curfew of curlews, a kindle of kittens
a trembling of finches, a pretence of bitterns

a prayer of godwits, a swatting of flycatchers,
a parcel of linnets, a crown of kingfishers

a conspiracy of ravens, a cast of merlins
a murmuration of starlings, a school of dolphins
a prickle of hedgehogs, a scurry of squirrels
a mischief of magpies, a bale of turtles

a knot of toads, a skulk of foxes
a clamour of rooks, a muster of peacocks
a round of robins, a squabble of seagulls
A cry of hounds, a soar of eagles


In my Town
In my town, in my town
As each pavement path I meet
Reading all the different names
History lies beneath my feet

Cherry Road and Berry Street
Beechwood garden, Clashbog Place
Cloverfield Court and Corby Terrace
Cypress Avenue, Elder Place

Elmfield Place and Fairies Knowe
Harehill Road and Hawthorn Crescent
Hayfield Place, Laburnum walk
Country beauties, gone, but present

Hollybank Place and Laurel Drive
Larch road, Meadow Lane, Langdykes Way
Meadow Lane and Oakhill Crescent
Ashwood Parade and Bramble Brae

Orchard Place, and Privet Hedges
Primrosehill Avenue, Fernie Brae
Sunnybank Terrace, Pinecrest Circle
Gowanbrae road, no flowers today

Horsefield Road and Lilac Place
Rosebank Gardens, Thistle Court
Rowan Road and Willowbank
Whin park place where cars cavort

No more lilacs, no more berries
Tarmac, pot holes, traffic cones
Ghostly trees, forgotten meadows
Under roundabouts and stones


Death on Xmas Day (2020)
At ten months old a baby boy was dead
By junkie parents. Horribly abused
Another doomed child, do-gooders misled

Crushed and twisted bones, all burned and bruised
Battered by parents too drugged up to care
A situation nobody defused

A broken pelvis, none close-checked that lair
The filthy home he was returned to die
Five weeks of beatings. No one was aware

On Xmas Day, too weak to even cry
A tiny life was snuffed out like a match
By those whose moral compass was awry

Evil is quick the meekest souls to snatch
A helpless infant's easy to dispatch