POETRY
Picture Day
Picture Day! Picture - DAY!
You better straighten your collar and get on your way! The teachers are poised with their gel and their spray, to brush back and press down those stray fly-aways.
You've practiced your smile, your outfit's been pressed
You're feeling quite confident, cool, and well dressed.
The camera is ready the flash is turned on!
Sit down and sit up and then 3--2 --1
*yawn*
The First Dog in Space
The first dog in space was named Henry the Dog,
his owner was smart, went to Harvard and Yale,
but Henry could “shake”, he could “sit,” and “roll over,”
but mostly Henry liked wagging his tail.
Before the big launch the journalists came!
They asked Henry the Dog “what do you think of space?”
And Henry said “Arf”
because Henry’s a dog
and dogs don’t talk.
They next day they went up, on a path through the sky!
the Astronauts all waved their loved ones goodbye,
“Are you feeling alright?” They asked Henry the dog,
and Henry said “Arf”
and barfed on their shoes
because he wasn’t.
They got to the moon the very next day!
the astronauts took Henry outside to play,
“Do you like the moon?” they asked Henry the Dog,
and Henry said “Arf”
and rolled over
because he did not understand the question.
They returned back to earth to a big cheering crowd!
and for Henry the Dog they clapped very loud,
“So how was it in space?” asked his owner that day,
and Henry said “Arf”
and plodded away.
because Henry’s a dog, and dogs don’t talk.
Veneitta-Fay
We eat ice cream on the back porch, after hand cranking it for an hour. It's hot hot hot!! And it is a little tense because I moved the pile of bricks by the fence to the other side of the yard.
But the ice cream is nice and cold, and the fireflies are out and about.
Ellis finds another match on the puzzle table, and mashes it in with his thumb.
Because a puzzle can look like anything, if you apply enough pressure
We eat Texas toast and drink sweet sweet iced tea
We offer each other more napkins, more salt and pepper, more sugar in your tea? No one ever finds themselves with an empty glass.
Nobody ever has to ask for someone to please pass the ketchup
the table doesn't have enough chairs so my sister sits on the nice step stool with the metal bar because she is the oldest and I slouch on the stool at the corner because I am the youngest
And my daughter will eat chocolate pudding with a spoon, all by herself, on a high chair at the kitchen table
and everyone will marvel at what little hands are capable of
when chocolate is involved
Generations from now, they will all be in the kitchen
heating up texas toast
brewing sweet sweet tea
making spaghetti with red sauce
and arguing over what's in the recipe and what isn't.
And after dinner everyone will arrange themselves on the couch
finally take a photo
and think
"How nice it is to have a family"
Overheard at the Sorbonne
"How now brown cow"
Said the chicken to the sow.
"Why I am not a cow at all!"
The pig exclaimed,
she quite proclaimed,
"I won't sit here and be defamed!
A pig am I, a proud pig too, for I am no more cow than you!"
The chicken squawked--she gawked and bawked, she did not like to be so mocked.
"I am very smart! I am an intelligent chicken! I read many books and teach many classes at the University!"
The cow she sighed, and rolled her eyes, it irked her when the chicken lied.
At most the chicken taught one class at the University.