Copyright 2000, Mary Mannon Reeves. No poem or part of a poem can be used in any way without the author's written permission.
KIDS POETRY KINDA STUFF
SOMETHING IS
FOLLOWING ME
Something is following me.
I stop and listen.
What can it be?
My spotted puppy, wanting to play?
I don't hear him yapping...
My little sister, with her favorite doll?
I think that she's still napping.
I put down my mudpie and hide in Daddy's garden.
I crawl through the flowers, and into the shed.
I can hear It follow me, but I can't see It's head
over the tall sunflowers.
I could be here for hours!
Something's following me, and what's more,
It's rattling the rusty old latch on the door!
Is it a bandit, all whiskered and grim!
I grab daddy's paint can --- I'll take care of him!
But...
what if it's a bear, with long teeth and sharp claws?
A bucket of paint won't do at all!
I climb over Daddy's hammers and saws
and slip out through the window.
Something is following,
Something I haven't seen.
Is it a dragon, glowing
purple and green?
Is it a dinosaur?
A tiger? Oh, what
could be following me
through the gardening hut?
I trip in the strawberries,
then climb up a tree
and hide in the branches ---
WHAT'S FOLLOWING ME?
Is it a giant? An ogre?
An ugly old witch with a scary old curse?
It's found me!
It's caught me!
And it's something much WORSE!
I'd rather face a monsters wrath
than my mom when she says its time for a bath!
GATOR GRINS
What is that beastie
With the dangerous smile?
Is it an alligator
Or a crocodile?
Let's get closer
And we'll tell them later -
We saw an allidile -
Or a crocogator.
On second thought,
Let's wait a while
To see the crocodator
(or the alligile).
What is that toothy beastie,
sunning on the rock?
Who cares? Let's run away
from that old gatocroc!
THE SIDEKICK
Good Guy Superhero wears his cape all day long.
He's fast, he's smart, he's incredibly strong.
No one knows who he really is, except his mother,
And me, I'm his sidekick, Good Guy's Big Brother.
A sidekick's job is important - and a real bore.
I clean up the messes he leaves on the floor.
I tie on his cape (an old ragged towel)
And pull down the ski mask that serves as his cowl.
It isn't a great job, but it isn't hard.
I just have to keep him in the front yard,
Where he leaps in the air with bloodcurdling cries
As he jumps and he thumps the pretend Big Bad Guys.
But at night, when the monsters are under the bed,
I get to be Good Guy Superhero instead.
I prowl and I growl til they all run away
to hide in the shadows - until the next day.
MOM'S PURSE
I think that there is nothing worse
than the junk Mom carries in her purse.
Old, gunky lipstick and rubberbands,
those wet-wipey things to wash your hands,
postcards to Gramma that never got sent,
peppermint candies all fuzzy with lint,
vitamins, paperclips, all messy mixtures,
but worst of all - my baby pictures!
JACK BE TINDER
Jack may be nimble, Jack may be quick,
But he hasn't got the brains of a brick
If he's determined to jump a candlestick.
Because fire is tricky and fire is hot
And Jack's going to get burned if he does it a lot,
It might look cool and be good for a boast,
But Jack's britches are gonna end up toast.