Sally's Alphabet

A is for alphabet
B is for boy
C is for cat, if you like
    but cats can't learn letters
    and all boys enjoy
    racing downhill on a bike

D is for donkey
E is for egg
F is a fairly big fish
    but donkeys don't swim
    and a fish wouldn't eat
    two hard-boiled eggs on a dish

G is for girl,and
Home is a place
I is for ink, I should think
    but girls who go home
    with ink on their face
    must scrub themseleves clean in the sink

J is for Jennifer
K is for King
L is a lizard that's green
    so Jennifer once
    took her lizard along
    to wave at the King and the Queen

M is a mouse
N is a newt
O is an ostrich, for sure
    they live in a house
    where they sing to a flute
    as they sit in a ring on the floor

P is for pepper
Q is a queque
R is a big roundabout
    but pepper could make
    a whole queque go 'Atchoo!'
    and rush round and round to get out

S is a suit, and
T is a tailor
U is an uncle who's old
    he went off to bed
    with a needle and thread
    to sew up some cloth made of gold

V is a vegetable
W is a whale
X is a kind of a cross
    but whales who eat vegetable
    with a big meal
    get pains as they pitch and they toss

Y is a yawn
Z is a zigzag
A takes us back to the start
    and you're yawning, my love
    as you zigzag to bed
    so Goodnight and God Bless you, sweetheart

--Edwin Brock

The Sands Of Dee

'O Mary, go and call the cattle home
And call the cattle home,
And call the cattle home,
Across the sands of Dee!'
The western wind was wild and dank with foam,
And all alone went she.

The westen tide crept up along the sand,
And o'er and o'er the sand,
And round and round the sand,
As far as eye could see.
The rolling mist came down and hid the land:
And never home came she.

'Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair-
A tress of golden hair,
A drowned maiden's hair,
Above the nets at sea?
Was never salmon yet that shone so fair
Among the stakes on Dee.'

They rowed her in across the rolling foam,
The cruel crawling foam,
The cruel hungry foam,
To her grave beside the sea:
But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home
Across the sands of Dee.

--Charles Kingsley

The Sea

The sea is a hungry dog,
Giant and grey.
He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tubling stones,
And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones!'
The giant sea-dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars
And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

--James Reeves

Sea Fever

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I sask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

--John Masefield

The Sea's Treasures

In swept the sea
With a swirl and a swish,
It shimmered and whispered,
'Choose what you wish.'

And the sea showed its treasures
At the edge of the shore,
Shining bright pebbles
And shells by the score.

Long ribbons of seaweed
That shone gold and red,
'I'll share them, I'll share,'
The sea softly said.

--Daphne Lister

The Silence

It wasn't your fault,
It was just the way
That things turned out
And I don't know why.

Nobody meant it
Whatever it was
That started the silence
All over our house.

Please don't go
But if you must
Then think of use sometimes.
You're the best.

Send me a postcard
(Wish you were here)
And I'll believe you
Wherever you are.

Perhaps before long
The silence will break.
Everyone's waiting
For you to speak.

--John Mole

Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and see
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cots the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

--Walter de la Mare

Sometimes

Sometimes I share things,
And everyone says
'Isn't it lovely? Isn't it fine?'

I give my little brother
Half my ice-cream cone
And let him play
With toys that are mine.

But today
I don't feel like sharing,
Today
I want to be let alone.
Today
I dn't want to give my brother
A single thing except
A shove.

--Eve Merriam

The Sound Collector

A stranger called this morning
Dressed all in black and grey
Put every sound into a bag
And carried them away

The whistling of the kettle
The turning of the lock
The purring of the kitten
The ticking of the clock

The popping of the toaster
The crunching of the flakes
When you spread the marmalade
The scraping noise it makes

The hissing of the frying-pan
The ticking of the grill
The bubbling of the bathtub
As it starts to fill

The drumming of the raindrops
On the window-pane
When you do the washing-up
The gurgle of the drain

The crying of the baby
The squeaking of the chair
The swishing of the curtain
The creaking of the air

A stranger called this morning
He didn't leave his name
Left us only silence
Life will never be the same.

--Roger McGough

Spells

I dance and dance without any feet-
This is the spell of the ripening wheat.

With never a tongue I've a tale to tell-
This is the meadow-grasses' spell.

I give you health without any fee-
This is the spell of the apple-tree.

I rhyme and riddle without any book-
This is the spell of the bubbling brook.

Without any legs I run for ever-
This is the spell of the mighty river.

I fall for ever and not at all-
This is the spell of the waterfall.

Without a voice I roar aloud-
This is the spell of the thunder-cloud.

No button or seam has my white coat-
This is the spell of the leaping goat.

I can cheat strangers with never a word-
This is the spell of a cuckoo-bird.

We have tongues in plenty but speak no names-
This is the spell of the fiery flames.

The creaking door has a spell to riddle-
I play a tune without any fiddle.

--James Reeves

Stones by the Sea

Smooth and flat, grey, brown and white,
Winter and summer, noon and night,
Tumbling together for a thousand ages,
We ought to be wiser than Eastern sages.
But no doubt we stones are foolish as most,
So we don't say much on our stretch of coast.
Quiet and peaceful we mainly sit,
And when storms come up we grumble a bit.

--James Reeves

Sunflakes

If sunlight fell like snowflakes,
gleaming yellow and so bright,
we could build a sunman,
we could have a sunball fight,
we could watch the sunflakes
drifting in the sky.
We could go sleighing
in the middle of July
through sundrifts and sunbanks,
we could ride a sunmoblie,
and we could touch sunflakes-
I wonder how they'd feel.

--Frank Asch