The View From My Tiptoes

I stood on my tiptoes to see a bit farther,
To see past the people and over the trees,
And over the forests and past the blue mountains,
And then I looked farther, past stormy gray seas.
And I just kept on looking. I looked past the clouds,
And I looked past the skies and then out past the stars.
I kept looking ahead 'til I couldn't see farther,
I stood on my tiptoes and saw beyond far.
No, I'll never forget what I saw on the day
That I peered past the world and all that it contained.
I saw past forever, past all that we know.
I stared at eternity from my tiptoes.

Mr. White

Mr. White was a blank slate,

A hole in the spectrum,

In his spotless white suit and white shoes and white house

At One-Twenty-Three White Street just off Off-White Lane,

Mr. White lived a life that was crisp, starched and plain.

But behind all that white,

Back behind the white whiteness,

A breathtaking masterpiece hidden from sight.

He felt splashes of colors, bold strokes in bright hues,

He felt greens, he felt yellows, deep reds and sad blues.

Mr. White was a painting,

A rich, colorful canvas,

An intricate portrait no one ever saw.

You see, poor Mr. White, was not white, not really -

Just a canvas, hung backward, his paint to the wall.

Lost Thought

Tonight while having a deep think
I tipped my head to sip my drink
And as I did my thought slipped out my ear.

It rolled across the hardwood floor,
Continued right out my back door
And I have lost that thought for good I fear.

It's such a shame, if I may say,
To lose one's well-thunk thought that way.
To have a thought fall right out of your head.

If only I could get it back,
But life's sometimes unfair like that
And so I think I'll just go on to bed.

The Rainmaker

I lean my ladder

Against a dark sky

And I climb to the top

To the heavens, where I

Sit with my pail

On my lofty perch

On a billowy, silver cloud.

I am the rainmaker.

I pour the rain

In drizzles and drops

O'er the hills and the plains.

I spill the raindrops

That sprinkle like tears

On a parched and thirsty world.

Yes, I am the rainmaker.

I wash away

The dust and the grime

And the dirt of the day.

When my bucket is dry,

I climb down again

And I walk through the puddles, home.

The Man in the Desert

I met an old man as I walked through the desert,
As I walked through the desert I met an old man.
In a tired straw hat
And a pair of worn sandals,
That carried him over an ocean of sand.

I said to him "Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet on this fine sunny day."
But my greeting was met
With a stare and a silence,
He passed me and wordlessly went on his way.

I still travel the trail that cuts through the desert.
I still walk the path that winds through the sand.
I wonder whatever

Became of that stranger,
That stoic, that sun-chapped, that weathered old man.

Three Sisters' Folly

One Tuesday three fortunate sisters,
Found five chests of silver and gold.
But alas, only six short days after,
They had wasted a fortune untold.
And so seven years later the sisters
With just nine pennies left to their name,
Shared a dented tin cup
And a mangy brown pup
And had only themselves to blame.

The Rise and Fall of Nobody

None hundred black knights
From the Castle Nobody
Crossed over the windswept moor,
Heading straight for the Kingdom of No One,
To wage a forgotten war.

No One saw them coming,
No One heard their shouts,
No One was prepared to defend.
The good kingdom fell to the Knights of Nobody,
Yes, No One had come to an end.

Nobody remembers
Just why they attacked
It happened so long ago.
Nobody thrived for none hundred long years
Till the rise of the Kingdom of No.

Starting Over

If I were designing a new me from scratch
I would make a slight change here and there.
For starters I'd give me the eyes of the hawk
And I'd take the great strength of the bear.
Then I'd add on the pouch of the kangaroo
So I'd have a safe place for my keys,
The spots of the leopard, the legs of the frog,
And the bright yellow stripes of the bees.
The ears of the bunny, the elephant's nose
And some beautiful antlers perhaps,
And the shell of the turtle that I could crawl in
For some undisturbed noontime naps.
I'd proudly wear the peacock's tail
The sailfish's majestic sail
And if I got bored
I'd just flap my wings
And gracefully fly away.

The Time Traveler

I am a traveler
Skipping through time,
Sliding through time,
Hurtling through time.
I am a voyager
Racing through time,
The gauge on my wrist
Marks my progress.

I've been to the past -
I was there yesterday.
And if I may say
It was much like today.
I am now in the present,
But I cannot stay,
For I'm pushing onward
To the future.

The Man Growing in My Garden

There's a man growing down in my garden,
He's scattered in pieces and parts.
His head's made entirely of cabbage,
And I think that's a very good start.
His eyes peek from the potatoes,
His ears listen from the corn stalks,
He hasn't a nose
But he has toma-toes
And with time he may learn how to walk.

The New Me

We parted ways with a handshake,
I'll miss me but time marches on.
Yes, I am still here
But it's painfully clear
That the me that I was is long gone.

A Weary Old Crow

A weary old crow came to rest on a clothesline
Stretched between two maple trees in a widow's back yard.
Her unmentionables, a billowy white backdrop,

Gently swaying in the autumn breeze.

Little Shoeless Boy

Little shoeless boy
Throwing stones at the sky,
Only he knows what he's aiming for
And only he knows why.

The Eye in the Sky

Peering closely at the planet
Giant pupil fills the sky.
Piercing gaze with lid unblinking
Ever watching stares the eye.

Tiny people scurry 'neath it
Seeking sheltered place to hide.
Silently it looks upon them
Can't escape the giant eye.

First in Line

I'm starting a line so that I can be first

To do all the fun things one can do.
If you want to join me just step up behind me

And you can take spot number two.

It's a line for the sniffing of flowers,
It's a line for the licking of spoons,
A line for the petting of purring cats,
And a line for the whistling of tunes.

It's a line for the kissing of sweethearts,
And a line for the racing of bikes,
It's a line for the seeing and doing and tasting

Of all the fun things that I like.

Get in line for the playing in rivers and creeks,
In line for the roasting of marshmallow treats,
It's a line for the running 'round in your bare feets,
And the line forms right behind me!

Ten Thin Men

Ten thin men sat on a long silver pin
In a hat on a fat lady's head,
A mockingbird swooped down and plucked the pin out
And it's feared that all ten may be dead.

The Accidental Astronaut

I tripped and I fell off the world today.
I peeked over the edge, and to my dismay,
I carelessly stumbled
And I took a tumble
And slipped off the edge of the world,
Yes I did,
I fell right off the edge of the world.

And now as I slowly drift away,
I'm watching a grand and amazing display.
The Earth seems so small
As I fall and I fall,
And soon it will all disappear,
Yes it will,
And soon it will all disappear.

I admit that I'm feeling a bit perplexed.
I don't know where I'll find myself next.
I'm just floating through space,
With an ease and a grace,
Adrift in a sea of stars,
I am,
Adrift in a sea of stars.

I Have an Elephant Stuck in My Ear

I have an elephant stuck in my ear

It's squeezed in so tight I can barely hear
Just how it got there's not entirely clear
But it's there nonetheless and it feels rather weird
Now I'm fully aware that my quandary sounds queer
But you must understand that I'm being sincere
When I tell you an elephant's stuck in my ear
I'm sure my predicament's quite severe

This sort of thing's always been my biggest fear
I need a good doctor or engineer
Who can figure out how to make it disappear
Maybe pull from the trunk, or push from the rear
But please, someone, please get it out of my ear!

Imagination

A colorful bird that leaves its perch
To fly to distant lands unseen, unknown.
Returns to sit upon the shoulders,
Preen its plumage, rest its weary wings.

On Finding Fallen Fairies

If you find a fallen fairy
You should stop and pick her up.
You should offer her a helping hand
And gently pick her up.
Please be mindful of her fragile wings

(They are the most delicate things)
But if a fairy's fallen
Pick her up!