Down the Back of the Chair

By Stella and Ella 

For our annual Art Celebration, Māhutonga Matariki will be showcasing poetry, short plays and artwork. Growing up, using the metaphor of the Hero's Journey from childhood to adulthood, will feed into the celebration. 

We have been busy preparing poetry. We looked at the poem, Down the Back of the Chair by Margaret Mahy. Her poem inspired us to use poetic language to create our own poems in the same style. 

Tangled in David's Hair by Nye

Not a single penny,
do we have,
our wallets are bare. 

The only place, we have not chased, 

Is uncle David’s beard or hair. 

We grabbed his scalp and held him down, 

Careful not to lose underwear, 

We put our hands in, 

and saw somethings, 

which of course made us stare. 

A dancing bus, a man named Rufus, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

Some long lost toast, a bar of soap, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

Something big, a pile of figs, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A kite, a knight, a terrific fight, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

Year old milk, a bundle of silk, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A velvet chair, music to blare, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A skunk, a monk, a pan that goes CLUNK! 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

An empty chest, 

a bug that needs rest, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A blue canary, a banana shaped tree, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A slope, a rope, the pope, a joke, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

A scare, a flare, an explosive hare, 

Tangled in david’s hair. A big bowl of rice, 

“That's extremely nice!”, 

Tangled in David’s hair. 

And finally after hours of work, 

(And a battle with a dangerous bear, a mysterious box, 

filled with chicken-pox, and a life that is full of despair) 

we found a way, to get some pay, 

tangled in David’s hair, 

a large pickaxe, to chop and hack, 

tangled in David’s hair, 

we can get precious stones, 

to make our own, and give them for a share, 

of their groups cash. 

“Hurrah! “We say, as now we can gain enough food to feed our Aunty Elaine!

Down the back of the chair! By Olive

Down the back of the chair. 

A cat, a mat, a hairy rat, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A smash, a crash, a bowl of mash, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A fish, a wish, a diamond dish, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A potato, a tomato, a flock of flamingos, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A pea, a flea, a box of trees, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A pool, a mule, a wooden stool, 

Down the back of the chair!

DOWN THE BACK OF THE CHAIR! by Kura

He stuck his hand further down the back of the chair. 

Cats, Rats, Bats flew out, 

A mythical magical mat jumped out, 

A sack of clowns, and a cottage lounge, 

Were down the back of the chair. 

There were puzzled wizards, dancing knitters, 

A bee having tea, 

Even Mum and her dressing gown, 

Were down the back of the chair. 

A clock, The Wellington block? 

And the crazy computer birds, 

Were down the back of the chair. 

Yes, down the back of the chair.

Down the back of the Chair by Archie and Lakham 

A pin, a lottery win, a mouse thats thin, 

A snake, a cake, a big old rake 

A pig, a twig, a big fig, 

A mat, a cat, a rat thats fat, 

A piggy bank, an army tank, 

Down the back of the chair. 

A bill, a Will and a man called Phill 

A TV, a fairy taking it easy, 

A chair, a bear and some underwear, 

A ball, a wall, an Archie that is tall, 

A dog, a frog, and a big fat log, 

Down the back of the chair.

Down the back of the chair by Luc

The titanic and people in a panic, 

An aeroplane, a flame, 

A Lamborghini and a Ferrari, 

A maserati and a bugatti chiron

Down the back of the chair 

A fluffy hat that came from Russia 

A uniform from Scott's College, 

$1,000,000,000 bucks from the bank,
Down the back of the chair

Down the bank of the school by William

A dreadful goblin with dread(ful)locks, 

One hundred and fifty alarm clocks, 

A magical, mystical, mystery box, 

Down the bank of the school. 

A piece of pie, a secret spy, 

Ten thousand flies, And a dirty tie, 

Down the bank of the school. 

A million tyres, the school fair flyers, 

A conspiracy, to cut down a tree, 

On blueprints with many dust - hints, 

Down the bank of the school. 

A thousand bucks, some mallard ducks, 

A china cup, a seal pup, 

A lions appearance was swiftly abrupt,

Down the bank of the school. 

Ten million souls of pygmy moles, 

And pieces of smashed glass bowls, 

Tigers prowling, wolves howling, 

Down the bank of the school!