I Wave Good-bye When Butter Flies

By Jack Prelutsky b. 1940 Jack Prelutsky

I wave good-bye when butter flies

and cheer a boxing match,

I've often watched my pillow fight,

I've sewn a cabbage patch,

I like to dance at basket balls

or lead a rubber band,

I've marvelled at a spelling bee,

I've helped a peanut stand.

It's possible a pencil points,

but does a lemon drop?

Does coffee break or chocolate kiss,

and will a soda pop?

I share my milk with drinking straws,

my meals with chewing gum,

and should I see my pocket change,

I'll hear my kettle drum.

It makes me sad when lettuce leaves,

I laugh when dinner rolls,

I wonder if the kitchen sinks

and if a salad bowls,

I've listened to a diamond ring,

I've waved a football fan,

and if a chimney sweeps the floor,

I'm sure the garbage can.

Text © 1990 Jack Prelutsky. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Source: Something Big Has Been Here (HarperCollins, 1990)

Biography

Jack Prelutsky is a creator of inventive poems for children and adults alike. He served as the Poetry Foundation’s Children’s Poet Laureate from 2006 to 2008. Prelutsky grew up in the Bronx, and when he was young he studied classical music; though he gave up pursuing a career as an opera singer to concentrate on writing, he continues to sing.

In a Scholastic.com interview, when asked where his ideas come from, Prelutsky said, . . .

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