The Octopus

Tell me, O Octopus, I beg,

Is those things arms, or is they legs?

I marvel at thee, Octopus;

If I were thou, I’d call me Us.

-Ogden Nash

Published in A Family of Poems, My Favorite Poetry for Children, 2005

Lemonade

Selling by the curb

Kids coming from all over

Fifteen cents a cup

--Rachel, Grade 6, Thurston Middle School

Published in  The Westwood Public Library’s 2008 Poetry Anthology

Just Magic

I can feel the gentle cool breeze, as it brushes on my cheek.

It feels magical as the flowers silently stare at me.

As the moon looks down,

and the crickets sing,

You have a feeling

It is going to be a magical night.

--Anusha, Grade 3, Sheehan School

Published in The Westwood Public Library’s 2008 Poetry Anthology

The Rider

A boy told me

if he roller-skated fast enough

his loneliness couldn’t catch up to him,

 

the best reason I ever heard

for trying to be a champion.

 

What I wonder tonight

pedaling hard down King William Street

is if it translates to bicycles.

 

A victory!  To leave your loneliness

panting behind you on some street corner

while you float free into  a cloud of sudden azaleas,

pink petals that have never felt loneliness,

no matter how slowly they fell.

--Naomi Shihab Nye

Published in A Family of Poems, My Favorite Poetry for Children, 2005

The Dream Keeper

Bring me all of your dreams,

You dreamers,

Bring me all of your

Heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too-rough finger

Of the world.

--Langston Hughes

Published in Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes, 2006

Vacation

Ahhh Florida
long plane rides
it was all
a
surprise
Hot Hot beaches
burnt toes too
two big pools
shark attack games in the pool
oh no
crazy
Jack
late nights
pillow fights
vacation
vacation
now comes to an end
WOW
vacation!

~Hannah, Grade 4, Hanlon School

The Stars

See the brightness of the stars,

glowing stars!

They hover over earth,

the earth’s an artifact of nature,

just kick away the cars!

How they glow, glow, glow,

in the icy air at night,

and the heavens seem to twinkle

with a crystalline delight!

Giving light, light, light,

in the very darkest nights,

even helps people in their very deepest frights.

How they shine, shine, shine,

keeping all the earth’s time, time, time,

in a sort of runic rhyme

all from the stars

from the glowing, glowing, glowing of the stars!

~Philip, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Hail

Crash!

     Crash!

    The Hail Comes          D

                                       O

                                         W

                                             N

    It lands on my head

                Then I fall DOWN !!!

~Caitlin, Grade 4, Sheehan School

RAIN

 

Rain Rain

Go away

Come again another day

The sky is grey so I can’t play.

It makes me pout and scream and shout

Rain Rain

Go away

Inside I can’t stay.

Outside, I want to play.

Please come again another day.

~Ellen, Grade 4 Sheehan School

Bouncing Bubble Gum

Boing boing

Quick quick quick

Ow ow no one can hear me

I want to be a quiet piece of bubble gum

~Delaney, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Turtle,Turtle

Turtle, Turtle

Green and bright

Your tiny shell will hold your fright

Run, Run

As fast as you can

When you find your friend Dan

Play, Play

Your favorite game

Then do the same

~Meghan, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Airplane’s View

When you’re in an airplane

                    high

               up

          up

     are

you

houses are boxes and

     cars are

dots

humans are almost impossible

to see

buildings are toys

backyards look

inches long

 

only with

an airplane’s

view.

~Peter, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Pelican

 

Gliding across the ocean,

Five pelicans flap their wings,

Wing tip to wing tip.

 

Suddenly they head out to sea,

They dive into the water,

Scooping up fish in their pouched bills.

~Eamon, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Little Brothers

 

Little brothers are a pain,

I feel like sending him to Spain.

He’s a hopping jelly bean,

You know he is very mean.

That is little brothers,

I love them the way they are.

~Sabrina, Grade 4, Sheehan School

Ode to Horses

Running as fast as the wind,

Manes whipping,

Back and forth.

Sleek,

Beautiful colors,

Shining in the sun,

Chestnut,

Chocolate and,

Golden brown.

Their massive muscles,

Always moving.

Racing across racetracks,

Riders on their backs,

Grasping the reins,

In fear of falling,

Down,

     Down,

Down,

To the ground.

Waiting patiently for a burst of speed,

And then they’re off!!

Almost flying,

Across the air,

As they run forever,

Constantly in motion.

~Nataniah, Grade 5, Downey School

September

it rained in my sleep

and in the morning the fields were wet

 

I dreamed of artillery

of the thunder of horses

 

in the morning the fields were strewn

with twigs and leaves

 

as if after a battle

or a sudden journey

 

I went to sleep in summer

I dreamed of rain

 

in the morning the fields were wet

and it was autumn

 

--Linda Pastan

Published in The Invisible Ladder, 1996

Poem

As the cat

climbed over

the top of

 

the jamcloset

first the right

forefoot

 

carefully

then the hind

stepped down

 

into the pit of

the empty

flowerpot

--William Carlos Williams

Published in One Hundred Years of Poetry for Children, 1999

The Reason I Like Chocolate

The reason I like chocolate

is I can lick my fingers

and nobody tells me I’m not polite

 

I especially like scary movies

‘cause I can snuggle with Mommy

or my big sister and they don’t laugh

 

I like to cry sometimes ‘cause

everybody says “what’s the matter

don’t cry”

 

and I like books

for all those reasons

but mostly ‘cause they just make me

happy

 

and I really like

to be happy

 

--Nikki Giovanni

Published in A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children, 2005

Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People by Monica Brown, Illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Take a look at this new book about the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda

“Once there was a little boy named Neftalí who loved wild things wildly and quiet things quietly. From the moment he could talk, he surrounded himself with words. Neftalí discovered the magic between the pages of books. When he was sixteen, he began publishing his poems as Pablo Neruda. Pablo wrote poems about the things he loved—things made by his friends in the café, things found at the marketplace, and things he saw in nature. He wrote about the people of Chile and their stories of struggle. Because above all things and above all words, Pablo Neruda loved people.” –from the book flap

Also check out: The Dreamer by Pam Nunez Ryan, Illustrated by Peter Sis

Buffalo Dusk

The buffaloes are gone.

And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.

Those who saw the buffaloes by thousands and how they

pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs, their

great heads down pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,

Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.

And the buffaloes are gone.

--Carl Sandburg

Published in A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children, 2005

Smell My Fingers

--for Jessica

Smell my fingers my daughter

says and thrusts them

at my nose.  I back dive off

my chair as if the air were

poisoned.  Where have they been

those sweaty things with six

years of sticky places

scenting their past?  She laughs

and chases me around the room

with germicidal weapons,

insists on my surrender.

Caught, I find a pine cone

in her fist. She tells me

it is spring and that means perfume.

--David B. Axelrod

published in Strings: A Gathering of Family Poems, 1984