Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems

"Hurricane" by Dionne Brand Shut the windows Bolt the doors Big rain coming Climbing up the mountain Neighbors whisper Dark clouds gather Big rain coming Climbing up the mountain Gather in the clotheslines Pull down the blinds Big wind rising Coming up the mountain Branches falling Raindrops flying Treetops swaying People running Big wind blowing Hurricane! on the mountain Hi, I’m Grace,...

"From a Dakota Wheat-Field" by Hamlin Garland Like liquid gold the wheat-field lies, A marvel of yellow and green, That ripples and runs, that floats and flies, With the subtle shadows, the change, the sheen That plays in the golden hair of a girl. A cloud flies there— A ripple of amber—a flare Of light follows after. A swirl In the hollows like the twinkling feet Of a fairy waltzer; the colors ru...

"Every Time I Climb a Tree" by David McCord Every time I climb a tree Every time I climb a tree Every time I climb a tree I scrape a leg Or skin a knee And every time I climb a tree I find some ants Or dodge a bee And get the ants All over me. And every time I climb a tree Where have you been? They say to me But don’t they know that I am free Every time I climb a tree? I like it best To spot a nes...

"Dew on a Spider's Web" by Dorothy Snow Dew on a spiders web is a wonderful sight, Early morning finds what has been created at night, Lovely designs spun so nice, Without a pattern of device, Looking at a mat of lace, Shows how long it takes to place. Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for toda...

"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnigh...

"A Quiet Life" by Baron Wormser What a person desires in life is a properly boiled egg. This isn’t as easy as it seems. There must be gas and a stove, the gas requires pipelines, mastodon drills, banks that dispense the lozenge of capital. There must be a pot, the product of mines and furnaces and factories, of dim early mornings and night-owl shifts, of women in kerchiefs and men with sweat-soake...

"Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson I Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death    Rode the six hundred. II “Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew    Someone had blundered.    Theirs not to...

"Halfway Down" by A. A. Milne Halfway down the stairs Is a stair Where I sit. There isn't any Other stair Quite like It. I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top; So this is the stair Where I always Stop. Halfway up the stairs Isn't up And isn't down. It isn't in the nursery, It isn't in the town. And all sorts of funny thoughts Run round my head. It isn't really Anywhere! It's somewhere else Ins...

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be d...

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley  I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and...

"The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson How do you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do! Up in the air and over the wall, Till I can see so wide, River and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside— Till I look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown— Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down! Hi, I...

"The Rainbow" by Christina Georgina Rossetti Boats sail on the rivers,   And ships sail on the seas; But clouds that sail across the sky   Are prettier far than these. There are bridges on the rivers,   As pretty as you please; But the bow that bridges heaven,   And overtops the trees, And builds a road from earth to sky,   Is prettier far than these. Hi, I’m Grace, and th...

"A Tragic Story" by William Makepeace Thackeray There lived a sage in days of yore, And he a handsome pigtail wore; But wondered much and sorrowed more, Because it hung behind him. He mused upon this curious case, And swore he'd change the pigtail's place, And have it hanging at his face, Not dangling there behind him. Says he, "The mystery I've found - Says he, "The mystery I've found! I'll turn...

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand...

"Blow, Bugle, Blow" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson   The splendour falls on castle walls And snowy summits old in story: The long light shakes across the lakes, And the wild cataract leaps in glory. Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying, Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. O hark, O hear! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going! O sweet and far from cliff...

"Bed in Summer" by Robert Louis Stevenson In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to pl...

"The Pancake Poem" by Shel Silverstein Who wants a pancake, Sweet and piping hot? Good little Grace looks up and says, "I'll take the one on top." Who else wants a pancake, Fresh off the griddle? Terrible Teresa smiles and says, "I'll take the one in the middle." Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you rea...

"The Caterpillar" by Douglas Florian The caterpillar's not a cat. It's very small And short and fat, And with those little beady little eyes Will never win a beauty prize. The caterpillar's brain is small It only knows to eat and crawl. But for this creepy bug Don't cry, It soon will be a butterfly! Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems...

The Duke of Plaza-Toro by W. S. Gilbert In enterprise of martial kind, When there was any fighting, He led his regiment from behind (He found it less exciting). But when away his regiment ran, His place was at the fore, O- That celebrated, Cultivated, Underrated Nobleman, The Duke of Plaza-Toro! In the first and foremost flight, ha, ha! You always found that knight, ha, ha! That celebrated, Cultiv...

Spring Cricket by Frances Rodman He put away his tiny pipe Last autumn, when the gale was chill: And now in rusty coat and brown He tries his strength upon the hill With fiddle tucked beneath a wing He staggers over a stubbled ground He climbs upon a sunny stone Shakes winter off, and looks around He polishes his dingy coat And scrapes a valiant tune and high To tell his tiny universe That April&#...

Today is Very Boring by Jack Prelutsky Today is very boring, It’s a very boring day, There is nothing much to look at, There is nothing much to say, There’s a peacock on my sneakers, There’s a penguin on my head, There’s a dormouse on my doorstep, I am going back to bed. Today is very boring, It is boring through and through, There is absolutely nothing That I think I want to do, I see giants ridi...

Father William by Lewis Carroll "You are old, father William," the young man said,     "And your hair has become very white;   And yet you incessantly stand on your head —     Do you think, at your age, it is right?"   "In my youth," father William replied to his son,     "I feared it would injure the brain;   But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,    ...

Rain Music by Joseph Seamon Cotter, Jr On the dusty earth-drum    Beats the falling rain;  Now a whispered murmur,     Now a louder strain.  Slender, silvery drumsticks,      On an ancient drum,  Beat the mellow music     Bidding life to come.  Chords of earth awakened,      Notes of greening spring,  Rise and fall triumphant     Over every thing.  Slender, silvery drumsticks      Beat the long ta...

The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet by Guy Wetmore Carryl Little Miss Muffet discovered a tuffet, (Which never occurred to the rest of us) And, as 'twas a June day, and just about noonday, She wanted to eat—like the rest of us: Her diet was whey, and I hasten to say It is wholesome and people grow fat on it. The spot being lonely, the lady not only Discovered the tuffet, but sat on...

Today we have TWO pickled poems! Did you know that sometimes poems talk to each other?   Our first poem is "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost   Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;   Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the b...