©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

(Is anybody home in there?)

I do not like arithmetic.
The numbers turn out wrong.
My twos and threes end up where
fives and sixes should belong.

©1981 Susan Noyes Anderson

What’s the most important thing of all?
It’s sometimes big and sometimes small.
It’s full of girls (or maybe boys)
and makes an awful lot of noise.

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

What’s tall and dark and furry,
has big teeth, but still acts tame?
Our M – O – N – S – T – E – R …
(Sssh! He can’t stand that name.)

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

Look at those bubbles in the sand.
Watch me scoop them up in my hand.
Oops––There’s something tickling me!
Hurray, it’s a sand crab, did you see?

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

The baby spits, and mother smiles.
If I spit, she gets mad.
She shakes her head when I burp but
when baby burps, she’s glad.

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

Each night my mother sings to me––
her favorite lullabies.
She rocks me gently back and forth
until I close my eyes.

©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson

Why does my mother have to say,
“Go clean your room?” It wrecks my day.
“Go clean your room!” she says to me.
“There’s clothes where carpet used to be,
and games and books on top of those,
and snacks starting to decompose!

©1993 Susan Noyes Anderson

A gaggle of giggling ghosts gathered gaily
to groan in the graveyard one night.
They glided so gracefully, Griggsby the groundskeeper
gasped at the glorious sight.