Posts Tagged ‘Children’s Literature’
April 15, 2015
Skweeples aren’t people Their foreheads are blue They eat with their noses And talk with them, too
Skweeples aren’t people They laugh with their ears They sleep upside down And cry purple tears
Skweeples aren’t people Their bodies are green They play in the swamp And hate to be clean
Skweeples aren’t people They live in old cars They drink stagnant water And eat lice and tar
Skweeples aren’t people But they love each other On Saturday night They all call their mother
People aren’t skweeples That’s easy to see I don’t bother them And they don’t bother me
Skweeples are skweeples
They do what they do
They belong in the open
Not locked in a zoo
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:children's poetry , Children's Literature , Poetry , Skweeples Posted in Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
April 8, 2015
Why swagger, then?
The Gnat’s supremacy is large as Thine —
—Emily Dickinson
I’m an influential person
I’ve got important things to do
I have a giant office
And I don’t have time for you
I’m an influential person
I am big and you are small
I have a slew of little people
Waiting at my beck and call
I’m an influential person
People do the things I say
If you aren’t here to serve me
Then please just go away
Pardon my existence
I don’t mean to waste your time
I’m here to serve some papers
You’ve been accused of heinous crime
Some of your endowments
Are certainly excessive
But your wisdom and compassion
Are not at all impressive
It’s a silly, silly man
Who does not realize
There are no little people
And souls don’t have a size
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:A Toad Can Die of Light! , Children's Literature , children’s poetry , Emily Dickinson , Poetry Posted in Emily Dickinson , Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
March 17, 2015
I was born to be a grownup
And I really dislike
The senseless sound and frolic
Of a gaggle of tykes
I’m a serious man
I do serious things
Got no time for games
Got no songs to sing
The stupid mirth and vigor
Of a roomful of youth
Annihilate my comfort
Like you’re drilling my tooth
I’m a serious man
I got books to read
Can’t tolerate those noisy
Little buckets of need
Living in a world
Of squalor and pain
Kids can make amusement
But it’s not very sane
So cut the happy hoopla
And the hullabaloo
Be serious like me
And miserable, too
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children's Literature , children’s poetry , grumpy grownups , happy kids , Humor , humorous poetry , Poetry Posted in Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
February 17, 2015
Etiquette preserves our nation
Manners keep our culture strong
Rules defend our civilization
From hordes of folk who don’t belong
Select utensils one by one
Outside-in from plates and dishes
Don’t scandalize your lovely Mum
With a salad fork to eat your fishes
A striped tie with a checkered shirt
Constitutes a fashion crime
When you dress wrong my eyeballs hurt
No white pants in the wintertime
Don’t wash hands in the kitchen sink
Don’t serve steak with Chardonnay
Match your meals with your drinks
And you’ll make partner some sweet day
Don’t peel your eggs from big end down
Always start with the end that tapers
Don’t eat food that’s hit the ground
Don’t blow your nose with toilet paper
Mind your manners
Follow the rules
Pick the right friends
And pick the right schools
You won’t feel happy
You won’t be free
But you will be
Correct like me
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Big-endians , Children's Literature , children’s poetry , etiquette , Humor , humorous poetry , Irony , Jonathan Swift , Little-endians , manners , Poetry Posted in Jonathan Swift , Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
January 29, 2015
You can hoodwink. You can fluster
You’re a mighty gifted huckster
You’re a guy who likes to muddle
You’re a walking pile of trouble
You love to mystify and faze
Go find somebody else to daze
Better jump back on your saddle
I ain’t the kind of guy you addle
You won’t catch me in a snoozle
I refusal your bamboozle
You can baffle and confound
It won’t work when I’m around
Hang on to your hornswoggle
My mind ain’t fit to boggle
Your deception will not do
I’ve seen a thousand crooks like you
I ain’t gonna be your chump
You can bet your lying rump
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:bamboozle , children's poetry , Children's Literature , conmen , frauds , hucksters , Humor , humorous poetry , Poetry Posted in Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2015
Don’t wake me up for anything
Don’t even say my name
This ain’t the time for pestering
My weak and weary frame
Don’t wake me up for anything
My bedroom is a shrine
Don’t disrupt my napping
My stupor is divine
Don’t wake me up for anything
Don’t halt my brief vacation
No good comes from bedeviling
My blesséd hibernation
Don’t wake me up for anything
I can’t afford to lose
Time set aside for slumbering
Don’t interrupt my snooze
Don’t wake me up for anything
My dreams are grandiose
If the world is ending
Just leave me comatose
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children's Literature , children's poetry , Humor , humorous poetry , Poetry , sleep Posted in Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
August 25, 2014
Sooner or later
You gotta grow up
Your body’s gonna do it
Like it or not
But there’s a whole
Bunch of things that
Shouldn’t be forgot:
Puppy dogs and rainbows
Summer afternoons
Lazy Sunday mornings
Ridiculous cartoons
Teddy Bears who listen
Family treks to the park
Silly laughs with friends
Playing soccer after dark
All your daddy’s hopes
Your grandmother’s love
Castles in the sand
Castles floating up above
Feed your happy wishes
And dream every day
These things are never childish
Don’t put them away
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children's Literature , Poetry , puppy dogs , rainbows Posted in Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
August 12, 2014
When Hadley McNutter
Mumbles and Mutters
He makes the ground tremble
And gives me the shudders
This ogre from hell
Ain’t your typical tyrant
When Hadley explodes
He erupts like a hydrant
He tramples and tromps
Like a like a lumbering giant
He rumbles and romps
Like monster defiant
When Hadley is hungry
We both rush to feed him
Such a wonderful burden—
How much we need him
He gets what he wants
And I don’t mean maybe
It’s hard to believe
That he’s merely a baby
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:babies , children's poetry , Children's Literature , humorous poetry , Poetry , TheGreatSultan , tyrants Posted in Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
April 17, 2014
I ate your lunch, but don’t you see?
You left it right in front of me
I’m sorry that you’re feeling cross
I’m sorry but you’re not my boss
All my friends thought it was funny
When I dipped your phone in honey
I’m sorry you can’t take a joke
I’m sorry you’re a stodgy bloke
I’ll raise some hell and make a fuss
I’ll fart and belch and shout and cuss
I’m sorry if you think I’m rude
I’m sorry you’re a silly prude
As long as everyone is free
I’ll be the man I want to be
I’m sorry you’re hung up on rules
I’m sorry you were raised by fools
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:bad manners , Children's Literature , Humor , humorous poetry , Poetry , rude people Posted in Poetry , Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »