All entries for Monday 03 November 2008

Riddle Poems. Can you solve them?

Below are some "Healthy Food Riddles" I wrote for the Warwick branch of Tescos for a kiddies' competition (5 - 11 year olds) during the recent Warwick Words Festival.

The riddle poem is an ancient form or type of poem most famously used by the Anglo-Saxons. Quite rudely, in some cases.

So here is my own modest contribution to the genre. Too easy? Too difficult? Leave your answers or a baffled silence in the Comments box below.

1.
Green and round
and big and red.
Deliciously tempting.
When I fall, gravity
is discovered.
I keep every tooth
in your head.

What am I?


2.
I could be a triangle.
Or a square.
Full of holes.
Round, thin as a string,
or shaved like hair.
I can peel like a banana, too.
Terribly good for you.
And yes, I’m afraid that’s me,
not your socks: I pong!
But I’m really tasty.
If you were a mouse,
I wouldn’t last long.

What am I?


3.
Sometimes I run and drip,
sometimes I’m still and cloudy.
You may have seen me with a bear.
I wish I could fly
like those who made me.
I’m the only comb
you mustn’t put in your hair.

What am I?



4.
It was dark and warm
where I began.
I could have been anything:
a stick or a plait,
a pocket or tin.
Rectangular, I’m thick or thin.
You can fill me
and take me most places.
Pull off my coat,
I fall to pieces.

What am I?



5.
Turn me around for a tasty meal!
I’ve trained the best,
I build muscles of steel.
I may be green
but don’t leaf me alone.
If you want to be strong,
healthy and lean,
you’ll have to take me on.

What am I?



6.
Sweet and fresh
I can go out alone
or get mixed up instead.
I’m easily embarrassed,
a shocking red.
At the table, I make people shout.
(Not my fault!
When the chips are down,
I’m all squeezed out.)

What am I?

: 03 Nov 2008 09:40 |  Tags: Poetry |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem