Many years ago I published Moon Tea, a small book of stories and poems for Children. Time for an update with 30 more poems. Here's a years worth to add to my collection. Kids, hope you enjoy it.

 

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Let's start with some Nursery Rhymes

 

Dish and Spoon had an eventful life

from the moment they wed as man and wife.

The fiddler Cat was a life long friend

and played at the reception as the champagne ran.

The Dog called out, just for sport,

"Open your gifts and see what you got."

They did and their favorite - they both agreed -

was the one from the Cow , a box of Moonbeams!

......

 

Lucky Locket

had a pocket

in her favorite dress

.

If this wasn't a poem

the pocket would be gone and

none of the rhyme would be left.

......

 

Telling the tale

of Sleeping beauty

too often misses

what makes it so great.

.

It's not the years

when the young girl is sleeping

but the moment a kiss

tugs her awake

......

 

Jack, Jack

slept in a box

with that infernal doorbell

that would wake him up.

.

.

.

.

.

______________________

How about some poems on Space and the Moon:

 

If it's storming outside

and you're thinking of stars....

......

 

What will my Moon poem

be about tonight?

How will it inspire me

when it lights up the sky?

What will I say?

What will I write?

......

 

The aliens landed

It was a neighborly call.

"Were starting a museum

of this side of space.

Do you have anything

you'd like to donate?"

.

"Wait!... Wait!...

I need time to think...

There's a lot of options

that come to mind..."

.

They tapped their toes

as I scratched my head.

......

 

That full Moon

is too loud for sleeping!

......

 

I'm going to print

with a guide book to the Moon -

all the hot spots

to rocket to.

.

And crater hotels

we rate with stars

with robot taxis

always on call.

.

.

We'll point the way

to the spectacular views

where you can best see

Earth from the Moon

.......

 

Old tin Moon

falls branch to branch.

Clatter! Clatter!

What a ruckus!

......

 

Who says the Earth

goes round the sun?

What an outdated thought!

.

There's a glass elevator

in the east

that pulls the thing up,

.

and another

in the opposite -

follow my sweeping hand -

.

that catches it

near twilight,

and brings the thing back down.

.

You look confused.

you shouldn't be.

You're finally learning the truth.

.

The nonsense these days

that people will say

or even print in books!

......

 

There was a knock on my door ...

"Who is it?"  "The Moon."

I said, "Come in."

and it said, "No thank you."

.

There was a knock on my window ...

"Who is it?"  "The Moon."

I said, "Come in."

and It said, "No thank you."

There was a knock on my roof ...

"Who is it?"  "The Moon."

"You can't come through the roof!"

"But it said, "I want to!"

.

I could make a hole

in the ceiling for you

but it would let in

the rain and snow too.

.

This is a puzzle.

What to do,

me in my house,

outside the Moon! ...

 

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Two Cars full of Trains, Poems

 

trains go away

trains come back

......

 

rumble, rumble, ...

boxcar, boxcar, ...

 

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Let's Eat!

 

Oats, beans, and rice.

Oats, beans, and rice.

Every day.

Every night.

.

This is no way

to treat a child.

I need some change

once in a while.

.

My mouth is dry

to oats, beans, and rice;

but potatoes. and lentils!

now that would be fine!

......

.

.

.

I wish

chocolate bars

were twins.

.......

 

What will I have for dinner tonight?

I see all the food in the world in my eyes.

A hall extends with table after table,

with a room or two just for potatoes.

Vegetables and fruits have their own niches;

meats and fishes, mushrooms, and spices.

Breads, and breads, and butter, too;

and desserts towering in layers to the roof!

.

I rub my hands as my mouth starts to water,

then POP goes my dream and before me a cupboard:

beans, and canned meats, and bread a little stiff,

a half bottle of that, and a third of this, ...

that a little salt and pepper just might fix ...

 

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Afraid of the Dark

 

The haunted mansion

is left with only

wind noises

......

 

I'd prefer

a suit of armor

that would work

the other way.

 

Instead of covering

up all me;

it would cover

up the world.

......

 

I  am

not friends

with the

dark

......

 

A half opened door demands a look inside ...

 

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Going Outdoors

 

A Lady Bug

of caramel brown

with dotted spots of black,

 

stops to rest

on my matching

tan colored hat!

[true story]

......

 

I scoop up two hand fulls of snow

and throw them high in the air.

They rise, stop, come back down;

and settle the way they were.

......

 

One of the caterpillars

flew away!

......

 

Try to dance

like birds in the wind

 

------------------------------------------

Mother and Child

 

My mother said

when I was ten,

"Learn a trade.

Join the circus."

......

 

Child reply to Mom: I bet dinosaurs didn't have manners!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

------------------------------------------

Friends that are not the same as me.

 

In the morning, when I'm

the first to get here,

this building talks to me.

 

We converse on concrete

and wind causing shear,

and if there's a pipe that leaks.

 

I check for bruises

and screws that are loosest,

or cracks that seem to be spreading;

 

or noises that drop

out of some hidden nook,

where there shouldn't be any.

 

And it in return

in its stout stoic way,

opens its doors for another day.

 

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Just Silly

 

Out to catch

a butterfly or two

was greedy Professor Stangly.

 

He filled his net

up to the brim

and they took off with prof dangling.

......

 

I love ...,

I love my top hat!

It makes me

a fashion beau.

.

But the rabbit inside

doesn't like the ride,

and paces to and fro.

......

.

.

Look!

The Aardvark and Zebra

are bookends!

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Musea is

Tom Hendricks

4000 Hawthorne #5

Dallas Texas 75219

tom-hendricks@att.net

 

Musea.us (zine)

hunkasaurus.com (music)

musea.wordpress.com (blog)

AACA Member #1

 

Children's Poems - Issue

 

Musea #191 Feb/Mar/Apr

(c) Tom Hendricks 2014

 

Photo Captions: Photographers - unknown

Two Girls:  Beryl and Flo Hasty