Laura Ranger’s similes pop and sparkle

When Laura Ranger was a child she wrote poems (she is now an adult!). She wrote really good poems that lots of people loved. She had her poetry published in magazines, she won prizes.

Most exciting of all, Godwit (Random House) published a little book of her poems in 1995 (Laura’s Poems).

                    

What I love about Laura’s poems is that they are about ordinary things in her world and that she also uses her imagination. 

These are some of her titles: ‘Mum’ ‘My Dad’ ‘My House’ ‘My Dog’ ‘It Gets Dark’ ‘Winter’ ‘My Zoo.’ 

Laura usually only puts a few words on a line, sometimes she uses a little rhyme and she always adds great detail. 

Sometimes her poems are like tiny stories; you can tell she has used her eyes and ears. 

What often makes her poems pop and sparkle for me are the similes she uses.

here are some of Laura’s similes:

Dog Poem

When the sun is behind him

his shadow is like an arrow.

His mouth is as black

as a burnt piece of coal.

His ears hang down

like golden autumn leaves.

The fur on his neck

is as frilly as a ballet tutu.

but his legs are like

worn out stockings.

His tail flaps in the wind

like a piece of flax.

My Dad is

as fast as a cheetah,

as soft as a cat,

as friendly as a dog,

and as cuddly as a koala.

I love my Dad heaps.

My skin is as smooth

as polished wood.

My skin is as smooth

as a piece of driftwood

on Otaki beach.

I swing as high

as the sky.

Rusty roof.

Paint peeling off

like an old wrinkled person.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

His teeth were as sharp

as a pin.

My dog Ali

is as gold

as a dollar coin.

He smells like

rotten cheese.

Bees buzzing and sizzling

like sausages
at a barbeque.