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  • Little star
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Little star

James McGonigal

Little star, so far, so near,
I see your eye’s one shining tear.

Little star, so wild, so tame,
I waved my hand. You never came.

Little star, so quick, so slow,
you whisper like the drifting snow.

Little star, so dark, so deep
the sea you swim in as I sleep.

When morning comes in like the tide
you will have reached the other side.

Swim, star, swim, through the midnight sea
(when your hair is dry, come back to me!)

Little star, so near, so far,
shine on Wick and Zanzibar

on Dundee, Belfast and Armagh,
and shine on my bike’s bent handlebar

shine like its silver bell
dring dring
shine like its silver bell
and sing
sharp as a silver bell.


James McGonigal

From The Thing that Mattered Most: Scottish poems for children edited by Julie Johnstone (SPL/B&W, 2006)

Reproduced by permission of the author.

Tags:

bikes lullabies National Poetry Day 2012 night poems on postcards stars suitable for children

About this poem

This poem was reproduced on a postcard for National Poetry Day 2012. Eight poetry postcards are published each year by the Scottish Poetry Library to celebrate National Poetry Day and are distributed throughout Scotland to schools, libraries and other venues. The theme for 2012 was stars. You can find out more about National Poetry Day in our National Poetry Day pages, where you’ll also find resources to go with the poems.

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James McGonigalb.1947

James McGonigal is a poet, editor and critic, Emeritus Professor of English in Education at the University of Glasgow, Chair of the Edwin Morgan Trust, and Morgan’s biographer.
More about James McGonigal

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