I’m older than my sister:
I’m eight and she’s just three,
yet when we’re given sweets,
she gets the same amount as me.
But clearly, this is such a crime!
“Her tummy’s half the size of mine!”
I tell them, with a glare.
It’s utterly unfair!
My sister claims I’m bossy.
This really isn’t true:
I simply make up lots of rules
and tell her what to do.
(And, given that she’s such a pain,
she’s lucky I don’t (much) complain –
such patience must be rare!)
It’s absolutely fair.
She’s always messing something up
or getting in my way.
They never tell her off – “She’s only young!”
is all they say.
Whichever toy I choose, she’ll see,
and want to take it instantly,
and then I’ll have to share.
It’s totally unfair!
I push my little sister round
the garden on her trike,
and then she has to take her turn,
and push me on my bike.
The fact that she is rather slight
and little over half my height
is neither here nor there.
It is completely fair.
The grown-ups say we’ll get on better
when we’re not so small
but waiting all those years is going to
drive me up the wall.
She’ll follow here and everywhere.
The thought is more than I can bear.
I’m telling you, it isn’t fair.
It isn’t fair AT ALL!
*
Claire Schlinkert is a British children’s writer, currently living with her family in Belgium. Her poetry has been published online, in magazines and in the anthology Hop To It (Pomelo Books). Several of her poems were commended or highly commended in the YorkMix Poems for Children competitions. When she’s not playing with words, she enjoys choral singing, nature walks, and relaxing with a cup of tea and slice of cake. She sometimes ballroom dances round the house when no one’s looking.
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