Bounce A Baby

11/15/2017

Bounce a baby on your knee

Bounce a baby one, two, three

Touch a baby, touch its cheek

Touch its hand, touch its feet

Use a hankie, peek-a-boo

Kiss a baby. I LOVE YOU!

Goose Bumps

3/2/2017

They could be called cow lumps or dog or cat or horse or sow lumps,

But they're not. They're called goose bumps, and I don't know why

They show up whenever I'm cold or afraid,

And sometime just when I feel shy.

It happens when I'm watching something scary, and Mom says

“Are you sure you can handle this, dear?”

I nod my head “Yes” and all of a sudden,

Those nasty old goose bumps appear.

Those pointy little bumps fill up my arms,

And sometimes, my legs and my back.

Once they're gone, a breeze might come up

And then all those goose bumps come back.

Jimathon Jonathon Timathon Sweets

11/17/2017

Jimathon Jonathon Timathon Sweets

Likes to tease

Each kid that he meets.

He'll pull out your hair

He'll be loud and quite rude,

And the paintings he paints on the walls are quite crude.

He'll push all the kids, then laugh while they're down

And he really considers

Himself quite a clown.

He teases the teacher, till she gives him time out

Then cries in his chair.

"I didn't do it!," he'll shout.

MEXICO

6/8/1996

There was a place, one time, we chanced to be

On a hill overlooking a southern sea,

With calm blue waters that lie below,

And you gave a pastry to me.

It seemed that it was sugar-laced

With a light sort of angel's dough,

And I don't know if it was the pastry's taste

Or the scene of the calm below,

But the memory is with me still

Of young love on a grassy hill,

Of sugar melting on my tongue,

Of a calm blue sea

In a world still young.

My Aged Aunt

6/30/2018

My Aged Aunt lies dying on her bed,

Surrounded by crisp white sheets.

Fluffed pillows prop up her head

Which can no longer support itself.

Her dim eyes gaze at the scene outside

Where the last rays of sun still kiss the afternoon.

Whether or not she can see the children play,

It all will be ended soon.

The head falls back, the eyes close

The color darkens in the face

Her chest no longer moves at all

And her sweetness has left this place.

Playing Chess with a Cat

2/2/2019

I was playing a game of chess with a cat

who was staring me down from across the room.

The pawns and rooks, dead on the floor,

spoke volumes about my impending doom.

Just me and my knight, a lovely lad who tried

to grant my every wish.

As the cat slowly crept in for the kill,

the knight exited the kitchen with a sandwich of tuna fish.

The cat first looked confused, retracted his claws,

then focused on the sandwich plate.

I felt relieved, then thanked my noble knight

who gave up his sandwich for a stalemate.

Pretty Girl

5/20/2018

My pretty girl is gone now.

Suddenly, her smile is very old.

The youthful flesh of her cheeks has deepened,

Her eyes are strangely tired and cold,

as if she lived a thousand lifetimes

and aged a bit in each one,

as if the years,the drugs, the men

and mistakes all took their toll

and the carefree moments of youth are all gone.

Then, she turns abruptly, and gives us a look

that almost resembles a smile,

and we see a mirror to her soul.

The youth is still there, the beauty

was just hiding in shadows.

We see her inner glow as she emerges in the light.

We welcome home our pretty girl,

and once again, the world is all right.

That's all

11/15/2017

A summer freeze in early June

Killed crops in the fields.

And frozen blossoms on the trees

Bore silent witness to the barrenness of Fall.

Just one night of the year

Caused so much change.

That's nature. That's all.

THE NIGHT LIGHT

11/14/2017

Mom kissed me goodnight, and then tucked me in

She pulled all the covers

Up under my chin.

"Now, don't be afraid," she said with a kiss

"You're perfectly safe here,

My dear little miss."

But something strange happened when she turned out the light.

The monsters came out,

For they just love the night!

The monster who lived right under my bed

Growled. He was hungry.

Though no words were said.

The closet-beast prowled in the corners that night.

It knocked down my clothes

And looked for a fight.

The thing that lives in the drapes by my bed

Likes to shake them a lot,

But I've seen his head.

He has warts on his face, and one horrible eye

And a mouth that breathes fire,

If you try to run by.

The little rug creepers aren't really so scary,

They'll trip you, of course,

And they look awful hairy.

The ones that hang out in the dark by the door

Are the scariest of all,

And there's at least three or four.

So I yelled to my mother, "Hey Mom,

Do you think

You could possibly bring me something to drink?"

She brought me some juice and a night light,

That's all.

Then plugged the night light right into the wall.

In a moment or two, the monsters were gone.

They don't like the light.

They had to move on.

So where are they now? I don't worry about them.

They're in the next room

With my big brother, Jim.

THE ALPHA MARE

6/8/95

The Alpha mare fears no one.

No horse is her friend.

She alone decides just when and where

The grazing day will start and end.

The stallion wants to drink his share,

And pretends he doesn't care,

He tries to go, but then returns

To wait for the Alpha mare.

To wait until she's thirsty,

Until she wants to drink,

For the Alpha mare rules the herd,

No matter what the stallions think.

THE DOG

10/3/2018

She drinks from the pool

and wet paws make tracks

across the pavement.

Waiting for the bus.

Waiting for him,

hoping he'll come home today.

The boy is gone.

He'll never return,

but at times, the dog looks to the road,

Expectant, waiting.

Her toys lie unused.

She walks to the house alone.

She won't live much longer.

She's old, for a dog,

and dogs die too quickly it seems.

Tonight she and the boy

Will run and play in the fields,

Both alive, in her midnight dreams.

The Rockman

6/8/1995

My mother was saying

"Don't play with rocks!

You might smash your fingers,

You'd be better with blocks.

You might smash your toes,

You might smash your hand.

So don't play with rocks

Or build a rockman!

But I built a rockman

How could I not?

He had two eyes of granite

And he winked them a lot

He said I'm a Rockman

I'm nimble, I'm fast

There's no way you'll catch me

There's no way you'll last.

He ran down the street

That old Rockman did

And scared all the cats

And scared all the kids

Except me, I still chased him

Down the street, up the hill

You can't catch me," he yelled

And you never will.

He ran past the bakery

He ran past the zoo

He said "I can do

Whatever I want to do."

He ran through the stores

And past the museum

He ran so fast that

Some people couldn't see him.

He ran through yards,

He'd open the gates

He ran through the park

It was getting quite late

He said "You can run all you want

You can run All you can

But you'll never catch me

Cause I'm a Rockman

He ran on the sidewalk

He ran past the mill

He said "you can't catch me

And you never will."

He ran by the water

And jumped in the lake

And that's where the Rockman

Made his mistake.

Rockmen can run

Of that, there's no doubt

But Rockmen can't swim

They can yell, they can shout

They'll knock over things

And maybe they think,

But if they're in the water

All they do is sink.

So now I play with my toys

I play with my blocks,

Action figures and puzzles

But never with rocks.

And I don't smash my fingers

My hands or my toes

I don't have to run where

that Old Rockman goes.

If you want, you can find him

In a heap by the shore

Put him together

He'll be a Rockman once more

As for me?

I have warned all you girls and you boys

Now I'm going inside

To play with my toys.