Poems

A little seed
For me to sow
A little earth
To make it grow
A little hole
A little pat
A little wish
And that is that
A little sun
A little shower
A little while
And then a flower

by Mabel Watts

Incy Wincy Spider, climbed up the water spout.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain.
And Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the spout again.

Goodness gracious, fiddle dee dee!
Somebody’s grandmother’s out at sea!
Just where the breakers begin to bound
Somebody’s grandmother’s bobbing around
Up on the shore the people shout
“Give us a hand and we’ll pull you out!”
“No” says the granny “I’m right as rain
And I’m going to go on till I get to Spain.”

by Margaret Mahy

Hickafreed, Snickafreed,
John Chapman Appleseed,
traveled and scattered small
seeds on his route.

Now we feel gratitude,
unquantifiable,
eating this perfectly
portable fruit.

Twas the night before Christmas,
when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring,
not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung
by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas
soon would be there.

by Clement Clarke Moore

I’ll tell you of a man I knew
who claimed he came from Timbuktu.
He said, “I have the world to see!”
So off he went to Timbukthree.
Then Timbukfour and Timbukfive
were where he seemed to come alive.

He went to Timbuksix and -seven,
and Timbukeight, -nine, -ten, -eleven.
Then Timbuktwelve and -thirteen too,
he liked them more than Timbuktu.
The last I heard, he’s doing fine.
He lives in Timbukninetynine.

So, kids, if all you ever do
is take a trip to Timbuktu,
at least you’ll have a lot more fun
than staying home in Timbukone.
But if you have the world to see…
continue on to Timbukthree.

by Kenn Nesbitt