Books
Books!
All sizes, all colors,
whispering,
"Come inside!"
"Come inside!"
Printed words
are a mystery.
How can they be
full of sounds?
How can you
look at this page
and hear my voice?
Read this and see
a green parrot
with a
bright read head
and long
purple
tail
feathers.
Words can frighten.
Words can sing.
Words can tickle.
Words can sting.
Words show us
worlds
never seen before.
Read this
and see
golden waves
crash
on a crimson shore.
And don't forget...
books smell good
too.
~ Mordicai Gerstein
from Dear Hot Dog
Giant Bookmobile of Tomorrow
I am a very moving van.
Driver: he's the Gingerbread Man.
Fuel: imagination power.
Speed: a dozen aisles per hour.
Whether it be comic strips,
Poetry at your fingertips,
Picture books or trivia,
The Wizard of Oz, Olivia,
My bookmobile has just one goal:
To entertain on cruise control.
but kids get on at every block
And I forget to watch the clock.
So if my van is "overdue,"
It's okay if you are too.
J. Patrick Lewis
from Poem-Mobiles
I'll tell you a story.
I'll spin you a rhyme.
I'll spill some ideas ----
and we'll travel through time.
Put down the controller.
Switch off the TV.
Abandon the mouse and
just hand out with me.
I promise adventure.
Come on, take a look!
On a day like today,
there's no friend like a book.
Laura Purdis Salas
from Book Speak!
Poetry is like some
sugar-crazed teenager
who just got a license
but refusees to follow
the rules of the road.
It races out of control
then jams up the traffic by
going reeaaaaaal slooooooow.
It turns up the music so loud
you can’t figure out how it Decides
to capitalize certains Words.
Punctuation? Ha! A joke!
Won’t use complete sentences.
And why does it refuse to
stay
on
the
line?
The most annoying thing?
Poetry won’t shut up.
It embarrasses everyone
by telling the truth.
Ralph Fletcher
from A Writing Kind of Day
In the Land of Words
In the land
of words,
I stand as still
as a tree,
and let the words
rain down on me.
Come, rain, bring
your knowledge and your
music. Sing
while I grow green
and full.
I’ll stand as still
as a tree,
and let your blessings
fall on me
Eloise Greenfield
from In the Land of Words
