The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

The Kiss of the Mummy's Sister

Listen to JH read his poem ...
The zombies scratching at the door,
the groans and howls you can’t ignore;

green aliens from outer space,
with compound eyes on every face;

some robots with computer brains,
that clank and whirr with cogs and chains;

or ghostly ghouls with pallid skin,
which leaves you feeling cold within.
Picture by Em Humble
Picture by Em Humble


These horrors high in scariness,
I’d gladly face, I must confess,

than suffer from a sloppy kiss
administered by Aunty Fliss ...
About Em Humble, the illustrator: Em Humble is a freelance creative with bases in London, Manchester, Leeds and the Lake District. Following her viral parody video ‘Every “Northern” character in a musical,’ she has featured on BBC Radio Manchester, Cumbria, and Tees with original comedy sketches. She has photographed and edited professional headshots, fashion, events and filmed promotional documentaries.

About the Writer


Jonathan Humble

Jonathan lives in Cumbria. His work has been published online and in print in a number of magazines and anthologies. His first collection of poetry, My Camel's Name Is Brian, was published by TMB Books in 2015. His second poetry book, Fledge came out in 2020 through Maytree Press. His poems for children have been shortlisted and highly commended in the Caterpillar and Yorkmix poetry competitions and he is the editor of The Dirigible Balloon. His poems Masterclass and This Work is Done were chosen as the Milk House Poem of the Year at the end of 2022 and 2023.