The Pain and The Great One

          My brother's a pain
           He won't get out of bed
           In the morning.
           My mother has to carry him
           Into the kitchen.
           He opens his eyes
           When he smells
           His Sugar Pops.

       My sister thinks she's so great
          Just because Aunt Diana lets
          Her watch the baby.
          And tells her how much
          The baby likes her.

And all the time
The baby is sleeping
In my dresser drawer.
Which my mother
   has fixed up
Like a bed
For when the baby
Comes to visit.

And I'm not supposed
To touch him
Even it he's
In my drawer
And gets canged
On my bed.

He should get dressed
   himself
He's six.
He's in the first grade.
but he's so pokey
Daddy has to help him
Or he'll never be ready
   in time
And he'd miss the bus.

He cries if I
Leave without him.
Then Mom gets mad
   And yells at me.
Which is another
   reason why
My brother's a pain.

He's got to be first
To show Mom
His school work.
She say ooh and aah
Over all his pictures.
Which aren't great at all.
But just ordinary
First grade stuff.

At dinner he picks
At his food.
He's not supposed
To get dessert
If he doesn't
Eat his meat.
But he always
Gets it anyway.

         My sister thinks she's so great
          Just because she can
          Remember phone numbers.
          And when she dials
          She never gets
          The wrong person.

And when she has
   friends over
They build whole cities
Out of blocks.
I like to be garbage man.
I zoom my trucks
   all around.
So what if I
   Knock down
Some of the buildings?

"It's not fair
That she always gets
To use
   the blocks!"
I told my mother and father.

          When he takes a bath
          My brother the pain
          Powders the whole bathroom
          And he never gets his face clean.
          Daddy says
          He's learning to
          Take care of himself.
          I say,
          He's a slob!       

         My brother the pain
          Is two years younger than me.
          So how come
          He gets to stay up
          As late as I do?
          Which isn't really late enough
          For somebody in third grade
          Anyway.

They said,
You're right.
Today you can
   use the blocks
All by yourself."

I'm going to build
   a whole city
Without you!"
I told the Great One.
"Go ahead," she said.
"Go build a whole
state without me.

See if I care."

So I did.
I built a whole
   country
All by myself.
Only it's not the
   funnest thing
To play blocks alone.
Because when I
   zoomed my trucks
And knocked down
   buildings
Nobody cared but me.

So they tucked the Pain
  Into bed.
I couldn't wait
For the fun to begin.
I waited
   And waited
   And waited.
But Daddy and Mom
Just sat there
Reading books.

I asked Mom and
   Daddy about that.
They said,
"You're right.
You are older.
You should stay
   up later."

         "Remeber that tomorrow,"
          Mom said when I told her
          I was through playing blocks.

         Finally I shouted.
          "I'm going to bed!"
        
          "We thought you wanted
          To stay up later,"
          The said.

          "I did.
          But without the Pain
          There's nothing to do!"






          "Remember that tomorrow,"
          My mother said.
          And she smiled.

She thinks she's great
Just because she can
Play the piano
And you can tell
The songs
   are real ones.
But I like
   my songs better.
Even if nobody
Ever heard them before.

My sister thinks she's
   so great
Just because
   she's older.
Which makes Daddy
   and Mom think
She's really smart.
But I know the truth
My sister's a jerk.

         My sister thinks she's so great
          Just because she can work
          The electric can opener.
          Which means she gets
          To feed the cat.
          Which means the cat
          Likes her better than me
          Just because she feeds her.

But the next day
My brother was
   a pain again.
When I got a phone call
He danced all around me
Singing stupid songs
At the top of his lungs.
Why does he have to
   act that way?

And why does he
   always
Want to be
   a garbage man
When I build a city
Out of blocks?
Who need him
Knocking down
   buildings
With his dumb
   old trucks!

But the next day               
We went swimming.          
I can't stand my sister       
When we go swimming.    
She thinks she's so great    
Just because she can      

And isn't afraid
To put her face
In the water
I'm scared to
   put mine in
So she calls me baby.