The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Winter Boy

I’m a winter boy.
My bones are made from snow
wrapped in leaf-muscles borrowed
from trees who don’t need them
for a few months.

I’m a winter boy.
My hair is a homemade bobble hat,
my fingers are knitted mittens,
my toes are ice skates.

I’m a winter boy.
My tongue is a mince pie’s filling,
my teeth are licked stamps,
my lips are the curl of a candy cane.

I’m a winter boy.
My ears are jingle bells,
my nose is made from cinnamon sticks
and gingerbread snot.

I’m a winter boy.
My skin is Yorkshire pudding batter
on my dad’s dinner plate,
my eyes are marshmallows
in my mum’s hot chocolate.

About the Writer


Carl Burkitt

Carl likes telling tales. He tells long tales, short tales, silly tales, sad tales. He tells them online, behind a mic, in books, in schools, and on the sofa with his young family. His debut kids’ collection, Elephants Sleep in Bunk Beds, was published by Beir Bua in 2021.