December 10th is the Anniversary of the United Nations adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Visit http://everyhumanhasrights.org/index.php to learn more.

By the shadow of the Chicken Leg Shack

The sideways crab
could master the trick,
and some would remark,
"That crab is so quick!"
for he could run forward and back
by the shadow
of the chicken leg shack!
The spider no web nor weave devise, 


for she knows that to leave is most wise
by the shadow of the chicken leg shack.
Even mice would think twice
before stealing inside
and scant are the ants,
I shan't have lied --
each visitor shied
by the shadow
of the chicken leg shack.

Just Watched the movie, "Hugo" based on the book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick; inspired by the films of Georges Méliès: so here is a small part of Méliès, "A Trip to the Moon" made in 1902.

Baba Yaga II

artist, Dmitri Mitrokhin

 Not Wanting to be Forgotten

Baba Yaga makes red spiders of all her toes

And pale little worms escape from her nose

Hairy all over she makes of her belly and

For eyes she lets seep a grey yellow jelly

If you don’t find this enough for a scare

She twirls in the air and makes snakes of her hair

 For Baba Yaga wants only to tease you,

She is sad if such frights fail to please you.

Ten Hairs (Warning: Might be Scary )

Painting by Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (Russian: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Васнецо́в;




Ten Hairs
After the meadow the birches stand tall--
Enter the woods and there’s no light at all.
Run through the bramble, push at the brush,
Feel your heart pounding, confused at your rush.
Then in a swamp, a bit of dry land,
A house with no doors, it’s standing on sand,
On a large chicken leg with one naked claw--
The skin is toad bumpy and the flesh is red raw.

Do you know who could live in this terrible place?

In the mud and the sand there are flies in a chase for

A man wanders blind from a glance at her face:

Yes, the witch Baba Yaga is truly a fright.

She escapes through her chimney but only at night,

Screaming and cackling, loud at the moon,

She’ll spit out her teeth and sing you a tune.

If you listen, beware your ear will turn in

And push out a wart with ten hairs on your chin.

For a wonderful reading of the Baba Yaga story see the MYTHS AND LEGENDS site: http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/story117-baba-yaga-and-vasilisa-the-fair.html

The Art of Happiness

(Albrecht Dürer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Twirling, they play a game called “catch my tail,”

Scampering ‘round and ‘round to no avail.

Two whirling squirrels circling a tree

are twice as happy as happy can be.

Ghazal for Richard Parker

(for Yann Martel)

The child blew a whistle to tame Richard Parker,

the tiger who survived, his name, Richard Parker.

Once a sailor, cabin boy and son, through a twist

of fate or fiction, he became, Richard Parker.

It was Bengali blood, and fierce

Symmetry that would frame Richard Parker.

The story goes on, the life of pi is such 

and you are still the same, Richard Parker.

The little sailor survived through you,

  each stripe another story, a survival game, Richard Parker.

You are made of dreams and a little fear,

your mane is a honey colored quick flame, Richard Parker. 

For a cat at sea each chapter brings more the same,

 in novels even the sun and wind take aim, Richard Parker.

If I find you in the forest dear on some dark night

I hope the stars will shine your eyes and I exclaim, Richard Parker!

Fireflies: A Ghazal for Children

Shhh… let’s watch and later tell about
How we spied on fireflies at night.

 The stars are falling and flitting, Don’t be surprised by fireflies at night.

 The dog snapped the air,
 Having eyed fireflies at night.

The baby knew white light spelled danger
So shied from fireflies at night.



What small creature could be prey
And hide from fireflies at night?

 Like a lantern lit, the meadow’s light
was wide from fireflies at night.

You rubbed your eyes, those birds were dots
of light comprised of fireflies at night.

Who knew this courting would light my life,
My heart is tied to fireflies tonight.


Do you watch the fireflies at night? Check out https://www.mos.org/fireflywatch/

Open Source For Education Creative Commons License

Written for Children by tess is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Dear Reader, What's this? I have added to my Creative Commons license. My license means you can use this work if you attribute it to "Tess." You can use it for teaching purposes or for pleasure but you cannot profit from it, nor can you change or alter the original. If you are a test designer, I hope you will not use my work because I do not like tests. Thank you, tess

Cat with Blue String

Peter Klashorst CC flickr

You are a blue string with cat.

Is it any wonder that

When you are wrapped in a ball

There is very little cat at all?

The Fairies

Robert Anning Bell, via Wikimedia Commons

They travel in air,
their wings like glass,
you won't see one
as you pass through the grass.
From the meadows they rise
and enter the skies
watching for treasure below
(take care where you go).
To fairies' glens be gentle and kind
listen to all the strange music you find.
                                                                  And don't loose your money--
                                                                 they use dimes and nickels for tiny round doors
                                                                 and they'll fold up the bills for a rug on their floors.

Puss 'n Boots -Gertrude Jekyll 1868

Puss 'n Boots  was rather proud
His howl was rude and loud
He'd strut the streets with a noble air

He was boastful, bold, without a care.

Cunning is but a skill--
choose wisely what you will
for it was Puss's noble heart
that gave us friendship as an art

A Robins' Work is Never Done

Public domain image: drawing of a robin artist unknown

Robins knitting cushions of twigs,

busy making

a new

nest.

They gather more--

hair is

best!

Owl: whooooo needs sleep?

quiet,

rest?

Prompt found @
http://missrumphiuseffect.blogspot.com/2012/03/monday-poetry-stretch-zeno.html

Homework

Theo van Doesburg. Wikimedia Commons

Homework

Some homework is made to forget

but sometimes it can be fun and easily done

yesterday I’d say, I’d rather practice my clarinet

some homework is made to forget

today I get to draw a girl I met

I’ll draw her hair bright and yellow as the sun

some homework is made to forget

but sometimes it can be fun and easily done