The cyclists practice in cyclical patterns
and whoosh and wiz and whirl as one —
like blurried rings surrounding Saturn,
their wheels won’t tire while steady they’re spun;
and by and by and by they fly
like migrant birds in friendly flocks
but should one rider go awry
we’d hear the captain’s screeching squawks.
A shark with no teeth is hardly a shark
he’s a horse without horseshoes, a dog with no bark.
He’d let himself smile if only in dark,
‘cause a shark with no teeth is hardly a shark.
He swam in the seas off an Argentine coast
but unlike other sharks wouldn’t brag, wouldn’t boast.
When he tried to make friends with the schools he liked most
they’d swim and disperse like they’d just seen a ghost.
He didn’t fit in with the others like him
because rather than bully, he wanted to swim.
His outlook on life was really quite dim
since he wallowed in pity, in grievance, in grim.
Then one day he was crying a quiet decree
(since you cannot see tears when they’re cried in the sea)
and just as he lisped out a whispering plea
“Why cant I find thomone whothe lonely like me?”
“Who’s there?” came a voice with the tiniest sound
“You’ll never solve anything moping around.”
“I can’t help it,” he said then he turned and he frowned.
“Well everything lost surely has to be found!”
“But you don’t underthand how different I am.”
“Why, surely I do! I’m a pearl with no clam!
I s’pose on the land, I’d be glitz. I’d be glam,
but life is a quiz, is a test, an exam!”
“Let’s look at your gifts: you’re as big as a boat!
You can swim when all I do is aimlessly float.
I haven’t a clam, I haven’t a coat.
When you don’t like your song, you find a new note.”
Then for once, the shark finally smiled in the light
when he realized the pearl with no clam was quite right.
And rather than whimpering night after night,
the shark traded dim for a new life of bright.
So, a shark with no teeth is surely a shark
he’s unique and he’s special – a far cry from stark.
He’s now exclamation, no more question mark;
‘cause a shark with no teeth is surely a shark.
Im smaller than my little brother, bigger than my sis
Im always in the middle, but I’m pretty hard to miss.
I wear my brother’s baseball cap to add an inch or two
and then I grab five pairs of socks and stuff them in my shoes.
I gulp down all the milk I see, I eat up all my greens,
but somehow I still feel as little as a lima-bean.
Today I hooped a hula ’til my hips were hot as fire
and when I said I broke my record, Sis called me a liar!
Sometimes I feel like bubble gum that’s stuck beneath the chair
sometimes I feel so angry, even SNARLS grow in my hair!
But then my friend (a middle too) comes over here to play
and she tells me the middle is the best in every way:
A sandwich with no peanut butter’s just some plain old bread
and people would look silly if they just had feet and heads.
A house wouldn’t be helpful if the roof were on the ground,
and ‘go’s the most important after merry, before round.
We’re the stuffing, we’re the filling, we’re the trunk that holds the tree
and even though I’m little, there’s no MiddlE without ME
If you’ve lost your umbrella, I’ll shield you from the rain
and when the sun is shining, I’ll protect you just the same.
Sometimes I stand up all alone, but always I stand tall
and even if there’s no one there, I make noise when I fall.
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Some may call me slimy, some call me hors d’oeuvres,
I slowly slink around the ground through gravel and through dirt.
And even when I travel, I don’t need a hotel
I carry it around with me- my mobile home, my shell.
—————————————————————————–
Often clowns will carry me, high above their heads
sometimes I’m blue, sometimes I’m green, I’m yellow or I’m red
Some fill me with water, a summertime surprise,
and when a birthday comes around, I’ll fill right up and rise!
——————————————————————————–
You’ll want to look right through me, depending where you are
sometimes you’ll zoom in very close, but only when you’re far.
You’ll capture many memories and keep them in a frame
And if you simply won’t say cheese, I’ll catch you just the same!
Moon Jumping 