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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
...
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...
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.
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...
- Fun & Games
- Holidays
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...
- Fun & Games
[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...
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!...
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...
- Friends
- Fun & Games
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...
- Fun & Games
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...
- Fun & Games
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...
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...
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.
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.
- Nature
- Seas, Rivers, & Streams
- Relationships
- Pets
- Meters
- Free Verse
- For All Ages
- Animals
- Friends
- Fun & Games
- + 3 more
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...
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.
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...
- Fun & Games
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...
A Young Lady of Lynn
By Anonymous
There was a young lady of Lynn,
Who was so uncommonly thin
That when she essayed
To drink lemonade
She slipped through the straw and fell in.
I Eat My Peas with Honey
By Anonymous
I eat my peas with honey;
I've done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.

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