How Many Seconds Are in a Minute?
How many seconds in a minute?
Sixty, and no more in it.
How many minutes in an hour?
Sixty for sun and shower.
How many hours in a day?
Twenty-four for work and play.
How many days in a week?
Seven both to hear and speak.
How many weeks in a month?
Four, as the swift moon runn'th.
How many months in a year?
Twelve the almanac makes clear.
How many years in an age?
One hundred says the sage.
How many ages in time?
No one knows the rhyme.
Who loves the trees best? “I love them best,”
Harsh Winter answered. “I give them rest.”
--Alice May Douglas
The Goops
The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the tablecloth-Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop--are you?
--Gelett Burgess
Afternoon on a Hill
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
--Christina Rossetti
To Meet Mr. Lincoln
If I lived at the time
That Mr. Lincoln did,
And I meet Mr. Lincoln
With his stovepipe lid
And his coal black cape
And his thundercloud beard,
And worn and sad-eyed
He appeared:
“Don’t worry, Mr. Lincoln,”
I’d reach up and pat his hand,
“We’ve got a fine president
For this land;
And the Union will be saved,
And the slaves will go free;
And you will live forever
In our nation’s memory.”
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!
--Edna St. Vincent Millay
I’d like to Be an Astronaut
I’d like to be an astronant
Racing through the sky
And look down at the earth below
As round and round I fly.
I wonder what it’s like to be
All alone up there.
What would I see if I looked down?
Perhaps I wouldn’t dare.
--Eve Merriam
Who Loves the Trees Best?
Who loves the trees best? “I,” said the Spring.
“Their leaves so beautiful to them I bring.”
Who loves the trees best? “I,” Summer said.
“I give them blossoms, white, yellow, red.”
Who loves the trees best? “I,” said the Fall.
“I give luscious fruits, bright tints to all.”
The oceans and the continents,
The world below me lies;
Africa and India
Would flash before my eyes.
And when I am on earth again,
I’ll look up at the sky,
And be glad I am an astronaut
And know how high is high.
--Arther S. Trace, Jr.