band,
And on a star-flower through the sky
I'd sail to fairyland.

Parental Advice

Who laid the egg that hatched the moon?
Was it the earth, I wonder,
Was it the sun, the clouds, or rain,
Was it night or thunder?

If I were mother to the moon
I'd spank her every day
Until she learned to stay at home
And _never_ run away!

Song for a Child Watching Clouds

I've watched the clouds by day and night,
Great fleecy ones all filled with light,
Gray beasts that steal across the sky,
And little fellows slipping by.

Sometimes they seem like sheep at play,
Sometimes when they are dull and gray
The pale sun seems a ship to me,
Sailing through a rolling sea;

And I've seen faces in them too,
Funny white men on the blue,
They look so many different ways,
And not one single cloudlet stays;

But on across the heavens they blow,
I often wonder where they go,
Now sometime, maybe when I die,
I, too, will wander through the sky.

Problem

If I were a violet I'd think it a shame
To be always so simple and modest and tame,
To be hidden away like a hermit or nun
While the hare-brained pink roses can dance in the sun!
But consider the naughty wild ways of the rose--
There _must_ be _respectable_ flowers, I suppose!

Garden Musings

Why is the lily so stately and still?
Why doesn't she dance like the gay daffodil?
Why doesn't she blush like the rose or the pink,
Or, like mischievous pansy, indulge in a wink?
Do you think it's because she is holier than they,
Or did God just decide he would make her that way?

My Garden

My garden was silly and stubborn;
I worked, but the weeds worked, too;
I dug and scraped and scrambled--
They hustled themselves and grew;

Now Ted's garden's fine and cleanly,
He has lettuce and roses and peas--
Oh, most probably plants are like children--
They only behave when they please!

Tracks

I wonder where the rabbits go
Who leave their tracks across the snow;
For when I follow to their den
The tracks always start out again.

Chanticleer

High and proud on the barnyard fence
Walks rooster in the morning.
He shakes his comb, he shakes his tail