Ode to Marbles

By Max Mendelsohn Max Mendelsohn
I love the sound of marbles   
scattered on the worn wooden floor,   
like children running away in a game of hide-and-seek.   
I love the sight of white marbles,   
blue marbles,   
green marbles, black,   
new marbles, old marbles,   
iridescent marbles,   
with glass-ribboned swirls,   
dancing round and round.   
I love the feel of marbles,   
cool, smooth,   
rolling freely in my palm,   
like smooth-sided stars   
that light up the worn world.

Poem copyright ©2004 by The Children’s Art Foundation. Reprinted from Stone Soup, May/June, 2004, by permission of the publisher, www.stonesoup.com.

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Poet Max Mendelsohn

Subjects Living, Youth

Poetic Terms Free Verse, Ode

Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Living, Youth

Poetic Terms Free Verse, Ode

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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