Woof! - National Poetry Month

I took Sharkles on a walk to the library with me yesterday to pick up two more Hardy Boys books on tape (the kids' new passion).

It's National Poetry Month, so when we left the library this gray-haired lady with a hemp purse stopped and asked if she could read me a poem. "I've got one about dogs!" she said, rustling around in her messy bag.

"Here it is!" she sang. Then she composed herself to read.

I was in a hurry (for no other reason than that Dane was home with a cough, waiting), but Sharkles sat next to me, and we listened to the poem:

Percy and Books (Eight)
by Mary Oliver

Percy does not like it when I read a book.
He puts his face over the top of it and moans.
He rolls his eyes, sometimes he sneezes.
The sun is up, he says, and the wind is down.
The tide is out and the neighbor's dogs are playing.
But Percy, I say, Ideas! The elegance of language!
The insights, the funniness, the beautiful stories
that rise and fall and turn into strength, or courage.
Books? says Percy. I ate one once, and it was enough.
Let's go.

The poem is from Oliver's collection, Red Bird (2008)

And, on that note, my happy, sniffing, panting, gazing-up-at-me-adoringly dog and I jogged home.

Kids Poetry Contest at CSM

If your kids write poetry, send their stuff to the Christian Science Monitor! Here's what I sent on behalf of my kids:


The Dog

A dog runs
through a grassy field
fetching a ball.
The owner waits,
The dog comes.
He does it again.

by Dane Reynolds, age 9
(written before we got our dog)



Sharly My Dog

Sharly is my Dog.
Her fur is the Color of
a fox's. She does not
Bite. She is very
very Sweet.
Her ears feel like
Velvet. She wags her
tail when I pet her.
I love Sharly my dog!

by Aubrey Reynolds, age 7



(Yeah, we've got a bit of a theme going here.)