But a Regular Egg

Meg’s Egg

Meg

Likes

A regular egg

Not a poached

Or a fried

But a regular egg

Not a deviled

Or coddled

Or scrambled

Or boiled

But an eggular

Megular

Regular Egg!

~Mary Ann Hoberman

Celery

Celery, raw

Develops the jaw,

But celery, stewed,

Is more quietly chewed.

~Ogden Nash

My Little Sister

My little sister

Likes to eat.

But when she does

She’s not too neat.

The trouble is

She doesn’t know

Exactly where

The food should go!

~William Wise

Polar Bear

The secret of the polar bear

Is that he wears long underwear.

~Gail Kredenser

Wiggly Giggles

I’ve got the wiggly-wiggles today,

And I just can’t sit still.

My teacher says she’ll have to find

A stop me wiggle-pill.

I’ve got the giggly-giggles today;

I couldn’t tell you why.

But it Mary hiccups one more time

I’ll giggle till I cry.

I’ve got to stamp my wiggles out

And hold my giggles in

Cause wiggling makes me giggle

And gigglers never win.

~Stacy Jo Crossen/Natalie Anne Covell

Hug O’War

I will not play at tug o’ war.

I’d rather play at hug o’ war.

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everybody wins.

~Shel Silverstein

The Joke

The joke you just told isn’t funny one bit.

It was pointless and dull, wholly lacking in wit.

It’s so old and stale, it’s beginning to

smell!

Besides, it’s the one I was going to tell.

~Anonymous

The Pig

The pig is not a nervous beast;

He never worries in the least.

He lives his tranquil life unshaken,

And when he dies brings home the bacon.

~Roland Young

January

The days are short,

The sun a spark

Hung thin between

The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps

Track the floor.

Milk bottles burst

Outside the door.

The river is

A frozen place

Held still beneath

The trees of lace.

The sky is low.

The wind is gray.

The radiator

Purrs all day.

~John Updike

Beyond Winter

Over the winter glaciers

I see the summer glow,

And through the wild-piled snowdrift

The warm rosebuds below.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Martin Luther King

Got me a special place

For Martin Luther King.

His picture on the wall

Makes me sing.

I look at it for a long time

And think of some

Real good ways

We will overcome.

~Myra Cohn Livingston

Always be Kind to Animals

Always be kind to animals

Morning, noon and night.

For animals have feelings too,

And furthermore, they bite!

~John Gardner

Young King Cole

Young King Cole was a terrible troll:

He washed his feet in the toilet bowl,

Brushed his teeth with turpentine,

And combed his hair with a porcupine.

~Judy Sierra

Vice Versa

Do you wonder in the winter

When the leaves are on the ground,

If the trees have turned in somersaults

And flipped themselves around

Until the tops are tucked in tight

Till springtime comes again

And all the raveled roots are reaching

Upward in the rain?

~Joy N. Hulme

Emperor Penguins

Huddled close together
Against the snow and sleet,
Penguins at the pole
Pool their body heat.

They gather in a circle,
Steadfast, disciplined,
Turning toward the center,
Fighting off the wind.

Sharing warmth and comfort
On cold and icy floes,
Balancing their future
Gently on their toes.

~Barry Louis Polisar

My Parents Are Pretending

I’m pretty sure my parents are
pretending they are sick.
I know because I taught them both
to do that little trick.

You blow your nose and hold your head
and claim your brain is breaking.
And so, a pro like me would know
my folks are clearly faking.

A little thing I learned in school
convinced me I am right.
My parents are supposed to meet
my principal tonight.

~by Ted Scheu

Hi-Bear-Nation

Chipmunks, woodchucks

All sleep late.

Do brown bears really hi-bear-nate?

Moles and voles in burrows crawl.

Do brown bears slum-bear when it’s fall?

~Douglas Florian

Manners

We say

“Thank you.”

We say “Please,”

and “Excuse me,”

When we sneeze.

That’s the way

we do what’s right.

We have Manners.

We’re polite.

~Helen H. Moore

My Daddy Forgets My Name

My daddy calls me sweetie pie.
He calls me honey bunny.
He also calls me poopsie,
which I think is kind of funny.

My daddy calls me sugarplum,
and also sleepyhead.
My silly dad forgets my name
when he tucks me into bed.

~ by Bruce Lansky

My Nose

It doesn’t breath;

It doesn’t smell;

It doesn’t feel

So very well.

I am discouraged

With my nose:

The only thing it

Does is blows.

~Dorothy Aldis

A Carrot Nose

A chubby little snowman

Had a carrot nose.

Along came a bunny…

And what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny,

Looking for his lunch,

Ate that little snowman’s nose…

Nibble, nibble crunch!

~Author Unknown

My Goldfish Took up Tennis

My goldfish took up tennis.

They installed a little net

at the bottom of their fishtank

for their first official set.

They got tennis balls and racquets.

They got tennis shoes and shorts,

for my fish are fond of tennis

more than any other sports.

It's a funny thing to watch them.

when they practice every day,

as the tennis balls they serve each other

always float away.

~Kenn Nesbitt

I’m Bold, I’m Brave

I’m bold, I’m brave, I know no fear.

I’m gallant as a buccaneer.

Is that a hornet by my ear?

Gangway! I’m getting out of here!

~Jack Prelutsky

Dora Diller

"My stomach's full of butterflies!"
lamented Dora Diller.
Her mother sighed. "That's no surprise,
you ate a caterpillar!"

~Jack Prelutsky

Where the Sidewalk ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

~Shel Silverstein