FOR YOUNG READERS
PET POEMS
My kitten
My kitten
has the softest fur,
as soft as silk to touch.
I smooth her,
and she starts to purr:
“Thank you very much.’’
And even
when I’m doing things
or when I want to play
she smoothes herself
on me and sings:
“Thank you, anyway.’’
Aileen Fisher
A Kitten
He’s nothing much but fur
And two round eyes of blue,
He has a giant purr
And a midget mew.
He darts and pats the air,
He starts and cocks his ear,
When there is nothing there
For him to see and hear.
He runs around in rings,
But why we cannot tell;
With sideways leaps he springs
At things invisible –
Then half-way through a leap
His startled eyeballs close,
And he drops off to sleep
With one paw on his nose.
Eleanor Farjeon
Cat
The black cat yawns,
Opens her jaws,
Stretches her legs,
And shows her claws.
Then she gets up
And stands on four
Long stiff legs
and yawns some more.
She shows her sharp teeth,
She stretches her lip,
Her slice of a tongue
Turns up at the tip.
Lifting herself
On her delicate toes,
She arches her back.
As high as it goes.
She lets herself down
With particular care,
And pads away
With her tail in the air.
Mary Britton Miller
D is for Dog
My dog went mad and bit my hand,
I was bitten to the bone:
My wife went walking out with him,
And then came back alone.
I smoked my pipe, I nursed my wound,
I saw them both depart:
And when my wife came back alone,
I was bitten to the heart.
W.H. Davies
Chums
He sits and begs; he gives a paw;
He is, as you can see,
The finest dog you ever saw,
And he belongs to me.
He follows everywhere I go
And even when I swim.
I laugh because he thinks, you know,
That I belong to him.
Arthur Guiterman
Wish on the Dog Star
I’d like a dog.
A big dog,
A bear dog,
A brush-and-comb-her-hair dog.
A soft dog,
A furry dog,
A call-her-and-she’ll-hurry dog.
A warm dog,
A smart dog,
A love-with-all-her-heart dog.
I’d love a dog.
Nancy Klima
An Introduction to Dogs
The dog is man’s best friend.
He has a tail on one end.
Up in front he has teeth.
And four legs underneath.
Dogs like to bark.
They like it best after dark.
They not only frighten prowlers away
But also hold the sandman at bay.
A dog that is indoors
To be let out implores.
You let him out and what then?
He wants back in again.
Dogs display reluctance and wrath
If you try to give them a bath.
They bury bones in hideaways
And half the time they trot sideways.
They cheer up people who are frowning,
And rescue people who are drowning.
They also track mud on beds,
And chew people’s clothes to shreds.
Dogs in the country have fun.
They run and run and run.
But in the city this species
Is dragged around on leashes.
Dogs are as upright as a steeple
And much more loyal than people.
Ogden Nash
Begged
He begged for a dog
with four fur paws,
with a bark and a wag
and a wet nose,
with a collar and lead and a drinking-bowl,
with a full-moon howl;
he begged, begged,
begged for a hound
with a cocked-leg and a grin and a growl,
with a basket, a blanket, a bone,
with a feeding-dish
and tricks with a ball,
a dog that would fetch and sit and heel.
He got his wish,
awoke in the black and barking dark –
the moon like a fang
in the mouth of night –
and, terrified, turned on the light:
smile of a wolf,
yeti’s paws at his neck,
yard of tongue, pink, wet,
butcher’s breath.
He felt like death,
he felt sick,
then he felt the first fierce frantic lick
of the dog’s dog love.
A love that sobbed
if he left the room,
clawed and scratched
at the closing door,
puked on the floor,
howled and yowled fit to wake the dead
till it shared his bed –
man’s best friend’s head
on the pillow,
eyes rolled back in their sockets,
blind, yellow.
Good dog, good chap, good boy,
good fellow...
He longed for a good night’s sleep,
a bath, a quiet meal
or a TV dinner,
an hour with a book.
He grew haggard, thinner,
but at his heel
the hound grew huge,
padded along
with the News in its jaws,
sat at his feet like a welcome mat
till he begged –
how he begged –
for a gerbil, a tortoise, hamster, a rabbit, a goldfish, a cat.
Carol Ann Duffy
My Dog
He didn’t bark at anything –
a cat,
a bird,
a piece of string,
a siren or a silly toad.
a pick-up truck along the road,
a fence,
a bone,
a chewed-up shoe –
He barked because he wanted to.
Myra Cohn Livingston
MY PET
Someone asked me yesterday:
“Have you got a pet?”
I sadly had to answer them:
“No, I haven’t yet!”
But now I’ve found a butterfly,
And we are great friends, he and I
.
PLANS
When I grow up, I plan to keep
Eleven cats, and let them sleep
On any bedspread that they wish,
And feed them people’s tuna fish.
Lost
I have a little turtle
Name of Myrtle.
I have an extra lizard
Name of Wizard.
I have two kinds of snake:
Bill and Blake.
I have a dandy hutch
Without the rabbit.
If you see any such,
Will you please grab it?
David McCord
The Little Turtle
There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.
He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me.
He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn’t catch me.
Vachel Lindsay
Hamsters
Hamsters are the nicest things
That anyone could own.
I like them even better than
Some dogs that I have known.
Their fur is soft, their faces nice.
They’re small when they are grown.
And they sit inside your pocket
When you are all alone.
Marci Ridlon
My Bird
My bird is small.
My bird is shy.
It does not sing.
It cannot fly.
It does no tricks
and that is fine.
I love my bird.
My bird is mine.
Karla Kuskin