Posts Tagged ‘children's poetry’

Dance because you’re not a dancer

January 25, 2025


I only have one thing to say
What are you gonna do today?

It's not a quiz
There's no wrong answer
Dance because you're not a dancer

Cook some eggs
Take a shower
Photograph the Eiffel Tower

Find a game
You like to play
Lollygag your time away

Have a beverage
With a friend
Read a novel to the end

Walk your dog
Smell some flowers
Sit around and talk for hours

Meet a deadline
With your team
Binge a show about a queen

Wax a roadster
Hike the hills
Debate the merits of free will

It's not about what others do
Do the thing that's right for you


by Richard W. Bray

Wystan and Emily

May 11, 2024


life comes at me in rhythm
words come at me in rhyme
toil teaching wisdom
the only place is time

walk along the seashore
frolicking in the snow
tasting all the sunshine
existing as i go

Wystan and Emily
sang a sonnet just for me
silently throughout the years
it danced a journey to my ears


by Richard W. Bray


wishy washy boo hoo

May 9, 2023

idiotic therapeutic 
wishy washy boo hoo
sticks and stones
Do words break bone?
crazy as a cuckoo

stop your sobbin 
silly robin
wings to fly 
beak for bobbin
skippin to my lu-lu

trigger warning
every morning 
scaredy cat
don't do that
just accept your boo boo

toughen up
buttercup
batter up
and to yourself 
be true true

by Richard W. Bray

the quiet of the sky

January 21, 2023

The quiet of the sky
The passion of the trees
The wisdom of the rocks
Educating me

Unremembered kindness
Murmurs in the breeze
The wonders of a world
That willed itself to be

Experience the grandeur
Of a world that isn’t clean
Open up your senses
Pull away from the screen

by Richard W. Bray

Math

April 10, 2022

Eights and sevens
Threes and twos
Math brings everything
Into view

Trapezoid, rhombus
Cubes and squares
Imagine, calculate
And compare

Fraction, cosine
Denominator
Essential tools
To make us greater

Find the difference
Plot the graph
Perceive, predict
And build with math

Engineer, geologist
Statistician, nurse
Math paints a picture
Of the universe

Tessellation
Infinity
Contemplating
Reality

by Richard W. Bray

Wacky doodle doo

February 5, 2022

Wacky doodle doo
I just lost my shoe
Hopping off to school
I never follow rules

Hip hip Horatio
I live in outer spacio
Napping on the moon
I'll visit Venus soon

Sippy Ki-Yay
My juice box is ok
Free Fi Fo Fum
He never bothered anyone

I don't know the muffin man
Too dense, too dry, and too much bran
Get it off my table
I'll have another bagel

Roses are yellow
Davey is mellow
Violets are purple
Tammy likes myrtle

Big Bo Peep
She don't need no sheep
She's happy, smart, and rich
And sweaters make her itch

by Richard W. Bray

the love of a child

July 17, 2021

unruly, rambunctious, exhausting and wild
there’s no greater love than the love of a child

boundless, colossal, extending for miles
there is no restraining the love of a child

needy and hopeful, touching and mild
the heaviest burden, the love of a child

investing your marrow, refunded in smiles
there’s no greater love than the love of a child

by Richard W. Bray

Henny Henny Penny

May 22, 2021








Henny Henny Penny says
“The sky is falling down
Pack up everything you got
And get out of town”

Henny Henny Penny says
“It’s never been this bad
The world is off its rocker
And everyone is mad”

Henny Henny Penny says
“Life don’t make no sense
I need a load of bricks
To build a bigger fence”

Henny Henny Penny says
“Never go outside
It’s a crazy crazy world
So find a place to hide”

Henny Henny Penny says
“Protect your mental health
You don’t want to go crazy
Like everybody else”

By Richard W. Bray

Fancy Land

May 24, 2018

All is grand in Fancy Land
With towering mushrooms growing wild
There’s purple skies that mesmerize
And no one ever hurts a child

The unicorn band in Fancy Land
Plays heavenly tunes with a thundering beat
Wishes are granted and all is enchanted
And everyone has enough to eat

Hate is banned in Fancy Land
Everyone lives how they want to be
An endless sensation of happy creation
Where all the creatures are roaming free

You’re welcome to visit Fancy Land
As long as the magic lives inside you
With access forbid to all but kids
But grownups wanna go there too

by Richard W. Bray

Wrap your arms around a rainbow

March 31, 2018

Silly, eager, joyful
The ignorance of youth
I ain’t being gloomy
I’m just telling you the truth

Dreary dismal angry
With a double dose of mad
Beauty’s all around you
But you’re hiding in your sad

Silly losers dancing round
Pretending life is fair
Nothing really matters
And the universe don’t care

Grouchy grumpy nasty crusty
Cranky crabby sour
Angry peeved and surly
You’re complaining every hour

If you knew what I know
You’d lose than silly grin
Your life’ll end in misery
You’re never gonna win

Wrap your arms around a rainbow
Grab a moonbeam — hug a friend
Love’s the only thing
That makes you richer when you spend

by Richard W. Bray