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Fun & Games

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  • Poem

    SPRING BREAK

    By April Halprin Wayland
    The best clouds in the business
              are right above me
    right now.

    We’re riding in this teal convertible
              those clouds just dozing
              in about forty-nine different shapes
           ...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    Manhunt or Ode to First Kisses

    By Elizabeth Acevedo
    it was always the older kids
    running to Riverside,
    hiding behind trees and underneath

    jungle gyms, holding their breath
    in the darkness as the other team
    tried to find them.

    I could not wait to be old enough;
    a captor’s arms clasping.
    Manhunt, manhunt 1, 2, 3.
     This poem...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    The Floatin Baby

    By Marilyn Nelson
    A doll was forgotten in a bedroom
    when the old owners of the house moved out
    and G-ma and Gramps moved their family in.
    There’s an old photograph in an album
    of boy Uncle Roy laughing, holding it
    in a jumble of moving-in boxes.

    It spent...
  • Poem

    The Dentist and the Crocodile

    By Roald Dahl
    The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist’s chair.
    He said, “Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair.”
    The dentist’s face was turning white. He quivered, quaked and shook.
    He muttered, “I suppose I’m going to have to take a look.”
    “I...
  • Poem

    Nature Knows Its Math

    By Joan Bransfield Graham
    Divide
    the year
    into seasons,
    four,
    subtract
    the snow then
    add
    some more
    green,
    a bud,
    a breeze,
    a whispering
    behind
    the trees,
    and here
    beneath the
    rain-scrubbed
    sky
    orange poppies
    multiply.
  • Poem

    First Saturday in June

    By Eileen Spinelli
    Fifty-nine days to go.

    I can't find my purple beach towel.
    I can't even get to my closet
    without walking across
    a sea of dirty socks.

    Mom pokes her head into my doorway,
    says:
    “Time to clean your room, Sophie.”
    And I have to admit
    she's right.

    And it's not...
  • Poem

    And Later . . .

    By Jen Bryant
    I take my kaleidoscope off the shelf,
    look through the little hole at the end
    of the cardboard tube;

    I turn       and turn       and turn       and turn,

    letting the crystals shift into strange
    and beautiful patterns, letting the...
  • Poem

    [in Just-]

    By E. E. Cummings
    in Just-
    spring          when the world is mud-
    luscious the little
    lame balloonman

    whistles          far          and wee

    and eddieandbill come
    running from marbles and
    piracies and it's
    spring

    when the world is puddle-wonderful

    the queer
    old...
  • Poem

    Carousel

    By Rebecca Kai Dotlich
    On thin golden poles
    gliding up, sliding down,
    a kingdom of horses
    goes spinning around.
     
    Jumper, Brown Beauty,
    Dark Thunder, Sir Snow,
    a medley of ponies
    parade in a row.
     
    Settled in saddles,
    their riders hold on
    to reins of soft leather
    while circling along
     
    on chestnut or charcoal,
    on sleek Arctic...
  • Poem

    He Laughed with a Laugh

    By JonArno Lawson
    He laughed with a laugh
    that he wished was his laugh,
    but everyone knew it wasn’t.
     
    When he laughed he would ask,
    "Does that sound like my laugh?"
    and everyone said, "It doesn’t."
     
    The laugh that he laughed
    that wasn’t his laugh went
    "Hardy har har, guffaw!"

    The laugh...
  • Poem

    Signing on a Crew

    By David L. Harrison
    Gather 'round, ye scurvy mates,
    I'm signing on a crew.
     
    You there! Can ye tie a knot?
    Ye’ll do.
     
    I'd say you've snatched a purse or two.
    Ye'll do.
     
    Does the thought of plundered gold
    make ye shiver?
    Make ye bold?
    Ye'll do.
     
    Ha! You’re rotten through and through!
    Ye'll do.
     
    Phew!...
  • Poem

    Confession

    By Bruce Lansky
    I have a brief confession
    that I would like to make.
    If I dont get it off my chest
    I'm sure my heart will break.

    I didn't do my reading.
    I watched TV instead—
    while munching cookies, cakes, and chips
    and cinnamon raisin bread.

    I didn't wash the...
  • Poem

    Dirty Face

    By Shel Silverstein
    Where did you get such a dirty face,
    My darling dirty-faced child?
     
    I got it from crawling along in the dirt
    And biting two buttons off Jeremy’s shirt.
    I got it from chewing the roots of a rose
    And digging for clams in the yard...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    Auto-Lullaby

    By Franz Wright
    Think of   a sheep
    knitting a sweater;
    think of   your life
    getting better and better.

    Think of   your cat
    asleep in a tree;
    think of   that spot
    where you once skinned your knee.

    Think of   a bird
    that stands in your palm.
    Try to remember
    the Twenty-first Psalm.

    Think of   a big...
  • Poem

    poetry-magazine

    A Boat

    By Richard Brautigan
    O beautiful
    was the werewolf
    in his evil forest.
    We took him
    to the carnival
    and he started
         crying
    when he saw
    the Ferris wheel.
    Electric
    green and red tears
    flowed down
    his furry cheeks.
    He looked
    like a boat
    out on the dark
    water.
  • Poem

    A Boat

    By Richard Brautigan
    O beautiful
    was the werewolf   
    in his evil forest.   
    We took him
    to the carnival   
    and he started   
       crying
    when he saw
    the Ferris wheel.   
    Electric
    green and red tears   
    flowed down
    his furry cheeks.   
    He looked
    like a boat
    out on the dark   
    water.
  • Poem

    The Ecchoing Green

    By William Blake
    The sun does arise,
    And make happy the skies.
    The merry bells ring
    To welcome the Spring.
    The sky-lark and thrush,
    The birds of the bush,
    Sing louder around,
    To the bells’ cheerful sound. 
    While our sports shall be seen
    On the Ecchoing Green.
     
    Old John, with white hair 
    Does laugh...
  • Poem

    Mix a Pancake

    By Christina Rossetti
    Mix a pancake,
    Stir a pancake,
    Pop it in the pan;
    Fry the pancake,
    Toss the pancake—
    Catch it if you can. 



  • Poem

    Sweet Dreams

    By Joyce Armor
    It’s always been a wish of mine
    (Or should I say a dream)
    To scare my sister half to death
    And hear her piercing scream.
     
    That’s why I squished four bugs until
    They all were very dead,
    Then took them to my sister’s room
    And put them...
  • Poem

    The One About the Robbers

    By Zachary Schomburg
    You tell me a joke about two robbers who hide from the police. One robber hides as a sack of cats and the other robber hides as a sack of potatoes. That is the punch line somehow, the sack of...
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