Pike caught a butterfly
Or maybe ’twas a bee.
It bit him, stung him, loved him
And was beautiful to see.
It kissed his nose, stomped his toes,
Sang a haunting melody
With a high-pitched finch
And vibrato-wobbled flea
In honor of young Pike
Before it cursed him handsomely
And then flew on.
A beetterfly? Maybe.

Dad said, “This is important
So dress to the nines!”

I dress to the tens or not at all!
Not at all will be just fine.

You’ve made it at last
To the end of the day!
You did it! You passed
Every test in your way!
You missed the bus
And ran the whole way,
Still got there on time
At the end of the day.
You got bullied and slandered
And shamed by your friends,
You fell in your lunch
And kicked your own shins,
Lost your shorts and what pride
You had to begin
This long, dragging day
That’s at last at the end.
What a relief to be done
And not a moment too soon.

What’s that?
It’s not even noon?

Okay, just think,
There must be a way out.
Get matches and gas!
Give the devil a shout!
We’ll burn the day down
Till yesterday’s ash!
Teach tomorrow a lesson
It’ll never forget!
To move along quick
And get us through it!

Someone locked the gas up
For some reason
Since the last time this happened
I call this high treason.
And as it turns out,
The devil’s a chicken
And not coming up,
That no-good, flea-bitten –

No matter!
Let’s just go to bed.
We’ll wake up at night,
See how that goes instead.

“Grinkle, grunkle, minkle, munkle,”
Muttered Blumble to himself,
“If I could get a monkey’s uncle-
Wizened, wishsome, gruntled, bundled-
Into a humble, loving huddle
With a touch of jungle trouble
I could sell the crumbled cuddles
For double any rumpled bubble!”
Muttered Blumble to himself,
“Grinkle, grunkle, minkle, munkle.
If I could get a monkey’s uncle-“

Chirp left half himself with a friend
Feeling rather lonely.
Half himself he gave to one
Who was down and lowly.
Half again went to a third
Turning ogre, trolly.
Half he gladly gave a ghost
Who was fading slowly.
He was half a half a half a half
Yet somehow still him wholly.

You don’t ever have to smile
No matter what you’re told.
I’m a grumpy, grim-faced child
Who’s gotten rather old
And I’ve seen a spill of smiles
On a sea of trying souls
Who thought that all their trials
Were hidden in the folds
Of crashing, grinning waves
That pulled their ships along
And they themselves were brave
In the face of pirate’s strong
Enough to wear their sneers
Like its all their faces knew
When they all wish to smile near
As I do thanks to you.

X marks the spxt
Unless it’s nxt
The xnly x you fxnd.

If thxrx arx morx
Xs in stxre
Thxn yxx’rx in quxtx x bxnd.

Xf xll xs x
Thxn yxx’ll bx vexed
Tx xvxn xndxrstxnd

Whxrx yxu xrx,
Yxx hxxx nx stxr
Tx gxxdx yxx xn thxs lxxx.

Bxx x xx xxl
Xx xxx yxx’xx fxxx
Xxx mxxbx xxx xx xx

Fxx xxx xxx x
Xxxxx xxx xxxy
Xxx xxx, xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx.

I might just be a giant
If I’m looking at this right.
I might just be defiant
Of any so called “height”
That marks me off below
The sun and moon and stars,
Although I know they glow
At a distance very far,
And maybe sun still grows
Because it knows of me.
A giant here, who knows?
But me? I might just be.

If the stars refuse to shine
Look to the dust to twinkle,
There are reasons for the mines
In mountains high and sprinkled
With clouds upon their spines
Light dives their rivered wrinkles.
If you wonder ’bout the stars
And where they got their start,
Know that I don’t know if ours
Are different in their art
But only that the eyes
Are lit by the heart.

Those buttery eyes
Are hard to resist
On a pancake face
All syrup kissed
With berries and nuts
And a whip cream mist
Upon such cheeks
Of fluffy bliss.

Our dear pancake
Would be much missed
But knew I was hungry
And would be remiss
Not to take this chance
To make me the dish
And gobbled me down
Its deliciousness.