fun4children - Poems written by Shelby M. Forrest

POEMS

by Shelby M. Forrest

Humour - Recycled Mother Goose stuff | Nursery Rhymes

The Little Train That Wouldn't

Tea For Two | Cleopatra the Caterpillar | Sylvester the Snail

The Barnyard is for Kids | Pauly the Antelope's Pony

That Dog Gone Dog | Little Joe from Kokomo | A Girl Named Flo

Elmer, the Acrobat Elephant | Peter the Toothless Possum

Harry the Hippo | Gator Al and His Little Pal

Hop Along Froggie | You'd Better go to School

Poems Requested by Children | Visit Shelby Forrest's web site

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The Little Train That Wouldn't

A sister to that little train
(The one that thought she couldn't)
Was stalled while going up a hill
She quit, and said she wouldn't.

The sister train then came along,
"A quitter you can't be.
"Just start to say, 'I think I can'
"And you'll move just like me."

"I think I can, I think I can,"
The train continued to say,
Then finally said, "I KNOW I can,"
And she was on her way.

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Tea For Two

Miss Annie Armadillo
And Peggy Porcupine
Were having breakfast tea one day
At a quarter after nine

Then joining them was Susie Skunk.
And she was very loud.
"Two is company," Peggy said,
"But with Susie, three's a crowd."

'Cause Susie was a little crude
And didn't fit in well.
A part of it was attitude,
And the other part was smell.

They said to Susie to take a bath
Or jump into the sea.
"That will get you smelling fresh,
Then join us here for tea."

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Sylvester the Snail

Sylvester the Snail is very slow
There is no way of knowing
If he is there just standing still,
Or if he's coming or going.

But there's one way that you can tell,
And this will never fail.
Just look behind and see if he's left
A sheeny, shining trail.

If you then follow the trail, you find
He has a big fat tummy,
'Cause all the flowers and leaves he eats
Are always very yummy.

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Cleopatra the Caterpillar

Cleopatra the Caterpillar
Was round and a little hairy
When kids would take a look at her
Some thought her downright scary.

"Why can't the kids be friends to me?
They all think I am ugly
Why like the "madame" can't I look?
And appear not quite so buggy??"

To Cleo Madame Butterfly turned.
"More patient you should be.
Just wait a short time more, my dear,
And you will look like me."

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The Barnyard is for Kids

The barnyard is a happy place,
Where kids all like to go.
And if they get there early enough,
They'll hear the rooster crow.

Sometimes the rooster talks to kids.
Not cock-a-doodle-do,
Cause what he says to kids is more
Like Howdy-do-are-you.

The fat old pig says to the kids,
As they go passing by
The mudhole that he wallows in,
" Hey kids, here's mud in your eye."

Raymond the rat goes scurrying by,
A piece of cheese in his mouth.
"I was faster than the trap this time,
"And now I'm heading south."

The old gray mare once on her head
A straw hat she did wear.
But she got hungry and ate the hat,
So now her head is bare.

The brave watch dog was sound asleep,
He could not open his lids.
While the old brown cow gave chocolate milk
To all the happy kids.

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Pauly the Antelope's Pony

Way up high where earth meets sky
On a ranch in old Wyoming
A pony lived with bear and deer
And with the antelope roaming.

Pauly, the pony, and Mattie, the mare
(Mattie was pony Paul's mother)
The two lived out alone on the range
He hadn't a sister or brother.

Since he was just a jolly young foal,
He could run fast, jump or lope
He ran so long with the herd, he thought
He, too, was an antelope.

Some race track scouts spotted him one day
While running along with the herd.
"We'll make a race horse star of you
If you'll just say the word".

He cared not ever to run on a track
Nor ever depart from the ranch
He loved to cavort with the fast antelope
And drink from the snow watered branch.

So now you can see him out on the range
Free from all life's stress and strife.
Playing leapfrog and tag with the antelope
And having the time of his life.

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Little Joe from Kokomo

Once upon a long ago,
There was a little Boy-o
The boy-o's name was Little Joe -
Little Joe from Kokomo.

Now Little Joe was kinda slow.
There was a lot he didn't know.
So to the library he did go
Our Little Joe from Kokomo.

He went to read and learned to know
That reading books will make you grow.
"And I'll get smart just like a pro,"
Said Little Joe from Kokomo.
"Poetry written in metric rhyme
Can bear the wear of eroding time"

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A Girl Named Flo

There was a girl who's name was Flo,
From the Pennsylvania Poconos
She lived up where the wind did blow.
It blew up drifts of fallen snow.

Flo was a girl who liked to ski.
It made her feel so loose and free.
One day, though, Flo did hurt her knee
When she skied smack into a tree.

Since then Flo doesn't ski so fast
She doesn't mind to come in last.
Her speeding days are in the past,
Cause now Flo's leg is in a cast.

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That Dog Gone Dog

His little dog has done it again!
That doggone dog has gone.
"Dog gone! Dog gone!," the toddler cried
And thus he carried on.

Where, oh where, has that little dog gone?
By now he's making tracks.
He is a long gone, dog gone dog.
Is he ever coming back?

The long gone dog came back to the door
And scratched to be let in.
Shortly that dog gone dog went out
And was soon long gone again.

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Elmer, the Acrobat Elephant

Elmer the Elephant wasn't content--
An acrobat he should be.
Michael the Monkey, by using his tail,
Could swing from tree to tree.

"I'd like to have a longer tail,"
Said Elmer to his friend.
"Then I could swing right through trees
And make the branches bend."

"Your tail," said Mike, "You need not use.
Just use that big, long snout.
If you can't swing from any tree,
Then you just pull it out."

Elmer tried to use his snout
Like Michael used his tail.
He'd start by swinging back and forth,
Then through the air he'd sail.

But when he flew to some big trees,
A problem there he found
His snout couldn't hang on to a branch
With a thud he'd hit the ground.

So Elmer decided an acrobat
He was destined not to be,
So back and forth he'd swing his tail
As he WALKED from tree to tree.

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Peter the Toothless Possum
Copyright (C) Elated Communications Ltd 2000.	Out in the woods behind a tree I spied a young opossum. He had poor teeth, and I found out Twas cause he didn't floss em He could not bite down hard on food, He ate just flower blossoms. Some blossoms, though, were bitter, and His stomach had to 'toss em' "I wish I had some brand new teeth, Then I would look quite awesome. But now that all my teeth are gone, I'm just a toothless possum." "If ever I can get new teeth, I'll brush em every day. And I will always floss em, too Before I go to play." Copyright 2000 © Shelby Forrest Back to List of Poems

Gator Al and His Little Pal

A marshy pond was habitat
For Alligator Al.
He was a lonely 'gator,
He needed much a pal.

He jumped into the murky pond
And swam around the bayou.
Then soon he heard a feeble croak
That sounded just like "Hi You"

He peered around and then espied
A water sodden log.
And clutching to the top of it
There was a skinny frog.

"Hey, gator, how about a ride
To get me to the shore?
I was stranded on this log last week.
I can't hang on much more."

"I'm looking for a pal," said Al
On whom I can depend."
"Take me to the shore," Frog said
"And I will be your friend."

"Hop on my back ," said Al to Frog
Amidst Frog's joyful laughter.
Soon the buddies reached the shore,
Good friends for ever after.

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Harry the Hippo

Harry the fat hippopotamus
Stronger is he than a lot of us
On the track in the rain
He challenged a train,
Now Harry is merely a blot-a-mus

Copyright 2000 © Shelby Forrest
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Hop Along Froggie

In a lily pond that is covered with fog,
A little frog lives on a log.
And he is a very special frog,
Cause he can bark just like a dog.

And since his legs are extra long,
They call this froggie, 'Hop-Along'
And some folks think there's something wrong
When he is singing his froggie song.

"Arf, arf, arf, arf, just look at me
I can leap from tree to tree.
And when I bark you expect to see
A dog instead of me should be."

Copyright 2000 © Shelby Forrest
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You'd Better go to School

A cat, a hog, and a three-legged dog
Were on their way to school.
They stopped to get another friend,
A stubborn, flop-eared mule

Said Mule to the others,"Go without me."
I don't got no need for school.
I know how to write an X for my name
Do ya think I be a fool?"

"You don't know how to count," they said
"And you don't know how to think.
You don't know how to follow the rules,
And your table manners stink."

"So you better stop being so stubborn,
And come on with us to school.
For if you don't, then you just might
Grow up to be a mule."

Copyright 2000 © Shelby Forrest
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