Children's Poems

  This is a tale of sibling rivalry from the 1812 Brothers Grimm collection of Children’s and Household Tales. Similar stories exist in Danish, English, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Slovinian and Swedish folklore and perhaps is related to the ancient Greek myth of Meleager and the Calydonian Bear. The peasants’ fields...

Stalks of brown and amber and gold, mighty when young, wither when old. Bleached by the sun and watered daily, Length may distinguish if lord or lady.   Post your answer in the comments section below.     Brian Douthit is a full time PhD Student at the Duke University...

  Skin hard as jade, Mouth like a blade, I’m seldom dry, A dross lookst I, And hard to find, But my inside Has hidden treasure For woman’s pleasure.   Put your answers in the comments section below...     Horus Hardtke is currently a full-time student at St. Louis...

A Journey to the East by Evan Mantyk is a historical and poetical fairytale adventure styled after Journey to the West, by Ming Dynasty writer Wu Cheng’en. The first nine chapters of the former may be read here.   I. The Mighty Monkey King Confronts an Appointment Request Form Outside...

  An acrobat named Larry Loops was best among all circus troupes, But he quit one day and was heard to say, “My boss made me jump all those hoops!”   There once was a man from Keele who slipped on an orange peel. He fractured his foot and was...

Check-Mate by a Pawn for my sons We parry, thrust: This game of wits, Where each pawn must Deflect your hits. My mounted knight Skips overhead, First back, then right; Your knight is dead. But you riposte, With bishop swift, My rook, engrossed, Forgets to shift. And then, I spot...

The Ballad of the Poor Troubadour I’m past my prime __and I’m out of time— I never made a dime from a rhyme. There ain’t much worse __than an empty purse— I suffered from the curse of the verse. I am no more __but I leave this score— The Ballad...

Glistening orbs Dance on air Drifting skyward Without a care Iridescent spheres Shimmering bright Reflecting prisms In the sunlight Luminous globes Fragile and frail Constructed of A diaphanous veil Fleeting bubbles Bursting free Illusive sight Imparting glee   Born in Wilmington Delaware in the early 1950’s, Ann Christine Tabaka has...

  The wisest poem ever Was written by my daughter, Although I’ve never known her To be much of a scholar. She’s only five years old now, But wise beyond her years. My daughter wrote a poem That moved me into tears. She scribbled down her feelings; A napkin was...

When Santa’s sleigh took to the sky, He saw a wonder by him fly: A Chinese Fairy dance on clouds And point to where there gathered crowds; A theater’s lights shone dazzling bright And beckoned him to veer his flight To see the face of those who’d seen The Shen Yun show’s...

  One afternoon, ‘neath forest tall, where Sunlight dons disguise, I saw a sight few people see (unless they’re telling lies); For under Swamp Mahogany there stood attired in green, An amusing little fellow, spouting phrases coarse, obscene. I asked him, “Sir, what ails you? Why curse when all around,...

How much wheat can a woodchuck eat? Or cabbage, carrots, and peas, Spinach, parsley, peppers, and kale, Tomatoes, lettuce, n’ beans? What if he brings his family n’ friends? A party they will throw! So pack your bag and grab your hat— It’s off to market you go!   Connie...

Darkness No longer did they see the need For things called books they used to read. Music—no longer symphonies, But simple tunes composed with ease. And what of Beauty?  What of Grace? They disappeared without a trace. Because of that, without a doubt, The light of Wisdom did go out....

Where was it that Alice went, One bright and shining day, A rabbit's lair, beneath the blare, A restless child at play, And where was it that Alice was, To greet a smoking bug, Who's pipe spelled words, Such tales unheard, If ever were heard of, So, where was it...

  Time (for Children) Time flies, as everyone knows and time marches on, as the saying goes and time will stand still now and then when we wish but does time ever swim for fish? And does it swing from the trees for monkeys? And does it leap over logs for...

  Witches’ Brew Round and round the seven seas go, In the putrid poisons throw, Double, double toil and trouble, dolphins die and oceans bubble. Extract of mercury, pcb’s, poison waters by degrees. Tampon inserts, medical waste, to melt a turtle’s carapace. Make the potion more desirous, add bacteria, morbillivirus....

  Kitty staring at the tipped fishbowl (whoever felled it left not a hair), With no one home, what was, do you think, The mysterious force that toppled it there? I will honestly say I do not think That ghosts and such visit much these days Or that Petey Canary...

  Ice I open my golden flowing fins,     I dance beneath the ice, I dip and twirl and pose and spin:     Tell me, don’t I look nice? Look at me! a glistening fish     flowing fancy and free: I know if you could have a wish     you’d be pretty as me....