Vinegar

By J. Patrick Lewis b. 1942

It was such a lovely day

Till I stumbled in the way

Of a van that carries vinegar to stores.

When I glared up at the man—

Operator of the van—

He said, “Vinegar, it never rains but pours!”

Now a skunk was standing by.

And I thought that I would cry

From the vinegar that sprayed and soaked my clothes,

When the driver kindly yells,

“Watch that animal. It smells!”—

And the skunk ran off, a hankie to her nose.

Biography

Former Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis grew up in Gary, Indiana and earned a BA at Saint Joseph’s College, an MA at Indiana University, and a PhD in economics at the Ohio State University. Lewis taught in the department of Business, Accounting and Economics at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, until 1998 when he became a full-time writer.

Lewis is the author of more than fifty books of poetry for children, which . . .

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