A Skeleton’s Hotel
I learned a thing that’s really scary,
That’s made me jumpy, squirmy, wary.
Those skeletons we see each Halloween
Are also living with us in between.
(Between one October and another.)
Hiding inside father, mother, sister, brother.
Inside you and you and you and you.
(And I suspect inside me, too!)
My body is a skeleton’s hotel.
It resides inside me very well.
Forgive me now if I scream and I shout.
I just scared myself from the inside out!
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Japanese Haiku
What a wonderful
day! No one in the village
doing anything.
--Shiki, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
At War With Wood
An apple fell from a tree
And hit poor me.
Offended by this attack,
I hit right back.
So I broke my left hand,
And I broke my right knee,
But I taught that darn tree
Never to mess with me!
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
I don’t understand
I don’t understand
How “good” English
And five times two is ten
Can help buy us more food
And extra blankets.
But Mama says it can
And she never lied to me.
So I ask my teachers,
But they don’t tell.
I bet they know.
Why won’t they say?
--Nikki Grimes, “I Thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
Those Weird Guys in Nursery Rhymes
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick.
If the candlestick was lit,
Jack must be a real nitwit.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her.
Oh, she was sickened half to death
By his perpetual pumpkin breath.
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown.
Rapping at the window, crying at the lock,
“Are the children in their beds?
For now it’s eight o’clock.”
The children throw stones at him, and chairs
From their bedroom windows, all upstairs.
This busybody boy they all despise,
For without him they could watch TV
From now until sunrise.
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Dinner With Jilly
Jilly could never keep her room clean.
It was a dreadful mess.
She didn’t like to play nice, either.
She caused us much distress.
She borrowed things she didn’t return.
And now I must confess:
We baked Jilly in a big piecrust,
And ate her, more or less.
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Banananananananana
I thought I’d win the spelling bee
And get right to the top,
But I started to spell “banana,”
And I didn’t know when to stop.
--William Cole, “I Thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
The Tallest Christmas Tree
221 feet
Northgate Shopping Center
Seattle, Washington, December 1950
A
tree
as tall
as that,
good sir,
would have
to be a Doug-
las fir. Now if all
children four feet
tall lay end to end
outside the mall, how
many would it take to
be as long as that great
Christmas tree? If you’re
correct--land sakes alive--
the
an-
swer’s over
fifty-five!
--J. Patrick Lewis, “The World’s Greatest Poems”
The Eraser Poem
The eraser poem.
The eraser poem
The eraser poe
The eraser po
The eraser p
The eraser
The erase
The eras
The era
The er
The e
The
Th
T
-
--Louis Phillips, ”I thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
I learned a thing that’s really scary,
That’s made me jumpy, squirmy, wary.
Those skeletons we see each Halloween
Are also living with us in between.
(Between one October and another.)
Hiding inside father, mother, sister, brother.
Inside you and you and you and you.
(And I suspect inside me, too!)
My body is a skeleton’s hotel.
It resides inside me very well.
Forgive me now if I scream and I shout.
I just scared myself from the inside out!
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Japanese Haiku
What a wonderful
day! No one in the village
doing anything.
--Shiki, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
At War With Wood
An apple fell from a tree
And hit poor me.
Offended by this attack,
I hit right back.
So I broke my left hand,
And I broke my right knee,
But I taught that darn tree
Never to mess with me!
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
I don’t understand
I don’t understand
How “good” English
And five times two is ten
Can help buy us more food
And extra blankets.
But Mama says it can
And she never lied to me.
So I ask my teachers,
But they don’t tell.
I bet they know.
Why won’t they say?
--Nikki Grimes, “I Thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
Those Weird Guys in Nursery Rhymes
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick.
If the candlestick was lit,
Jack must be a real nitwit.
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife but couldn’t keep her.
Oh, she was sickened half to death
By his perpetual pumpkin breath.
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown.
Rapping at the window, crying at the lock,
“Are the children in their beds?
For now it’s eight o’clock.”
The children throw stones at him, and chairs
From their bedroom windows, all upstairs.
This busybody boy they all despise,
For without him they could watch TV
From now until sunrise.
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Dinner With Jilly
Jilly could never keep her room clean.
It was a dreadful mess.
She didn’t like to play nice, either.
She caused us much distress.
She borrowed things she didn’t return.
And now I must confess:
We baked Jilly in a big piecrust,
And ate her, more or less.
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
Banananananananana
I thought I’d win the spelling bee
And get right to the top,
But I started to spell “banana,”
And I didn’t know when to stop.
--William Cole, “I Thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
The Tallest Christmas Tree
221 feet
Northgate Shopping Center
Seattle, Washington, December 1950
A
tree
as tall
as that,
good sir,
would have
to be a Doug-
las fir. Now if all
children four feet
tall lay end to end
outside the mall, how
many would it take to
be as long as that great
Christmas tree? If you’re
correct--land sakes alive--
the
an-
swer’s over
fifty-five!
--J. Patrick Lewis, “The World’s Greatest Poems”
The Eraser Poem
The eraser poem.
The eraser poem
The eraser poe
The eraser po
The eraser p
The eraser
The erase
The eras
The era
The er
The e
The
Th
T
-
--Louis Phillips, ”I thought I’d Take My Rat to School”
Prism in the Window
I wake to light
falling through glass
colors splintering and clashing
in the air
The noise of morning sunlight
being smashed apart
wakes me
This is my alarm!
Color falls on color
I hear cymbal sound
breaking into rainbow dust
shattering
into seven
rainbow chimes!
PRISM!
--Barbara Esbensen, “Who Shrank My Grandmother’s House?”
Nighttime
How do dreams know
when to creep
Into my head
when I fall off
to sleep?
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
I wake to light
falling through glass
colors splintering and clashing
in the air
The noise of morning sunlight
being smashed apart
wakes me
This is my alarm!
Color falls on color
I hear cymbal sound
breaking into rainbow dust
shattering
into seven
rainbow chimes!
PRISM!
--Barbara Esbensen, “Who Shrank My Grandmother’s House?”
Nighttime
How do dreams know
when to creep
Into my head
when I fall off
to sleep?
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
How Did You Get So Mean?I saw you steal second base.
I saw you kill some time.
I saw you shoot some basketballs.
I saw you flip a dime.
I saw you cut some corners.
I saw you stab in the dark.
I even saw you punch the clock
and take a swing at the park.
I saw you beat a dozen eggs.
I saw you strike a match.
I saw you hit a hole-in-one.
I saw you slam the hatch.
I saw you kick the habit.
I saw you crown the queen.
I even saw you break the news.
How did you get so mean?
--Kenn Nesbitt, “My Foot Fell Asleep”
Egg
There are
No tags, no tabs
Or wrapping paper,
Nor flaps, not string,
Sticky tape or ribbon.
Never hidden up high
On a cupboard shelf.
Egg is a package
That can open
Itself.
--Kristine O’Connell George, “The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
A Long Day of Rhyming
A cop goes on a stakeout.
A prisoner plans a breakout.
A baker takes the cake out.
A mechanic checks the brakes out.
A barbequer cooks his steaks out.
A counterfeiter puts the fakes out.
A Californian rides the quakes out.
A gardener brings the rakes out.
A hungry man orders takeout.
A snake charmer lures the snake out.
A proofreader casts mistakes out.
A hunter searches the drakes out.
And this poet has finally flaked out.
--Dean Koonz, “The Paper Doorway”
There Was an Old Man…
There was an Old Man, who when little
Fell casually into a kettle;
But, growing too stout, he could never get out,
So he passed all his life in that kettle.
There was an Old Man who supposed,
That the street door was partially closed;
But some very large rats, ate his coats and his hats,
While that futile old gentleman dozed.
There was an Old Man of Coblenz,
The length of whose legs was immense;
He went with one prance, from Turkey to France,
That surprising Old Man of Coblenz.
There was an Old Man in a boat,
Who said, “I’m afloat! I’m afloat!”
When they said, “No! you ain’t!” he was ready to faint,
That unhappy Old Man in a boat.
--Edward Lear, “There Was an Old Man…”
The Purple Cow
I never Saw a Purple Cow,
I never Hope to See One;
But I can Tell you, Anyhow,
I’d rather See than Be One.
--Gelett Burgess, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
my nose
It doesn’t breathe;
It doesn’t smell;
It doesn’t feel
So very well.
I am discouraged
With my nose;
The only thing it
Does is blows.
It doesn’t breathe;
It doesn’t smell;
It doesn’t feel
So very well.
I am discouraged
With my nose;
The only thing it
Does is blows.
--Dorothy Aldis, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
Eletelephony
Who tried to use the telephant--
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee--
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!)
--Laura E. Richards, “The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
Homework
It rustles it
shifts with no wind
in the room to
move it
Listen!
The blank white
paper
needs your attention
“Where are the words?”
It whispers
“I’m lonesome
For words and circles
And
Spelling your name and
assignments”
Put your hand on the paper
to calm it Pick up
your pen Say
“Paper I’m here
when you need me!”
Begin
--Barbara Esbensen, “Who Shrank My Grandmother’s House?”
Treasure
A rusty door key,
A part of a tool,
A dead bee I was saving
to take in to school;
A crust of pizza,
Sand from the shore,
A piece of lead pipe,
An old apple core;
My library card,
A small model rocket—
I guess
it
is time
to
clean
out
my
pocket.
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
Doors
Some doors
are always open Some
doors hold themselves
shut
The open doors say
“Come on in” and
“I missed you”
and
“Have a sandwich”
The closed doors
just shake their heads
I know a door
that collects things
collects
leaves scratches
chipped paint
parts of words
It is an old door
getting gray and crabby
The other
it said “SLAM!!” and collected
my fingers
--Barbara Esbensen, “Who Shrank My Grandmother’s House?”
Breakfast
I C U 8 your scrambled X,
I C U drank your T.
My heart is filled with NV,
R there NE X 4 me?
O Y is the carton MT now?
How greedy can U B?
4 U 8 all the scrambled X
And left me 1 green P!
--Jeff Moss, ”The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
What You Don’t Know About Food
Jelly’s made from jellyfish.
Spaghetti’s really worms.
Ice cream’s just some dirty snow
mixed up with grimy germs.
Bread is made of glue and paste.
So are cakes and pies.
Peanut butter’s filled with stuff
like squashed-up lizard eyes.
And as you eat potato chips,
remember all the while—
they’re slices of the dried up brain
of some old crocodile.
--Florence Parry Heide, “The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
I C U drank your T.
My heart is filled with NV,
R there NE X 4 me?
O Y is the carton MT now?
How greedy can U B?
4 U 8 all the scrambled X
And left me 1 green P!
--Jeff Moss, ”The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
What You Don’t Know About Food
Jelly’s made from jellyfish.
Spaghetti’s really worms.
Ice cream’s just some dirty snow
mixed up with grimy germs.
Bread is made of glue and paste.
So are cakes and pies.
Peanut butter’s filled with stuff
like squashed-up lizard eyes.
And as you eat potato chips,
remember all the while—
they’re slices of the dried up brain
of some old crocodile.
--Florence Parry Heide, “The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury”
Winter
NEVER
quarrel
with
winter.
It
ALWAYS
wins.
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
Brooms
On stormy days
When the wind is high
Tall trees are brooms
Sweeping the sky.
They swish their branches
In bucket of rain,
And swash and sweep it
Blue again.
--Dorothy Aldis, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
Little Seeds We Sow In Spring
Little seeds we sow in spring
growing while the robins sing,
give us carrots, peas and beans,
tomatoes, pumpkins, squash and greens.
And we pick them,
one and all,
through the summer,
through the fall.
Winter comes, then spring, and then
little seeds we sow again.
--Else Holmelund Minarik, “Childcraft Poems and Rhymes”
No Matter
No Matter
how
hot-burning
it
is
outside
when
you peel
a
long fat cucumber
or
cut deep
into
a
fresh, ripe watermelon
coolness
comes
into
your
hands.
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
Autumn’s Beginning
A
monarch butterfly
quietly
perched
itself
upon
a
pumpkin.
Orange
on
orange
Autumn
came
officially
that
very
moment.
--Lee Bennett Hopkins, “Good Rhymes, Good Times”
