For the Birds
©1991 Susan Noyes Anderson
My sister loves to feed the birds.
They come from miles around.
She offers them a place to nest
and birdseed by the pound.
My sister loves to feed the birds.
They come from miles around.
She offers them a place to nest
and birdseed by the pound.
I do not like arithmetic.
The numbers turn out wrong.
My twos and threes end up where
fives and sixes should belong.
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.
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.)
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?
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.
Each night my mother sings to me––
her favorite lullabies.
She rocks me gently back and forth
until I close my eyes.
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!