Childrens Poetry Advertisement The purple-wanded wizard casts Enchantment that lasts Beyond your petty life and

place: A spell that spans space. His work is even guaranteed; He hasnt got the greed To spin cheap magic like some do, So let him serve you. 1980 * All Hallows Eve Wind in trees, Rain on eaves, Fire in grate, Hour is late, TillfinallyHalloween Shapes are seen! 10-31-71 * All Hallows Eve Epilogue You say this little book of verse Is sicker that the rest youve seen? Remembernothings ever worse Than being born on Halloween. A poets birthday shouldnt be A holiday to raise the dead, And yet my anniversary Is when the greedy ghouls are fed. 01-13-67 * August Storm Summer thunder shatters sky, Wet replaces dry, Unexpected torrents blot

Out the humid hot. Is the rain but Natures brief Gift for our relief? Or a random, out-of-place Waterfall from space? 07-10-78 * Babys Manifesto Now Im two And I talk to you; When Im four Ill talk much more. 03-18-79 * Believe! Purple cats are back in style, See them on the street, Purple whiskers, purple smile, Purple pussy feet. Little children know theyre there, Only grown-ups dont Pet the fluffy purple hair, Never mind who wont. 12-02-78 * Beverage (2) Magical dragons tooth Brings back youth, Stir in a diamond-clear Mermaids tear, Drain the cup just as youre told, Dont grow old. 11-04-77 * Biblio-tourist Each time I inhale

The aroma of oranges and tea, I wish I could sail The Orient, fickle and free. The China I seek Is fashioned of legend and dream. Realitys weak. But myths ever glimmer and gleam. I circle the globe, I think of a pagoda built high, Where gowned in his robe Of saffron a monk shuffles by. For books are bought cheap, They serve me instead of a ship: I readfall asleep And embark, on a fanciful trip. 11-05-78 * Big Foot From Canada to California back up in the trees, Theres a legendary creature no one ever really sees, Hes a snow-man and an ape-man, and a monster and a myth, But hes no one that a man would ever dare to battle with. On the southern side of Washington, the spring of Sixty-Nine, Now the weather it was colder, up and down the timberline, And the monster he was hungry and he left his tracks around, But nobody ever saw him, for he never made a sound. And were never going to catch him, for he always disappears, And the Big Foot, hell keep living for another million years. Hes the answer and the question; hes the riddle of our time, But nobody ever shoots him, since it turned into a crime. And they didnt have to pass a law to save his savage hide For a man whod hunt the Big Foot would be bound for suicide. But I still would like to see him, from a mile or so away, With a camera so that I could prove the things I have to say, But nobodys going to see him in the woods of Washington, And make the folks believe it, for it never has been done.

And were never going to catch him, for he always disappears, And the Big Foot, hell keep living for another million years. 08-12-73 * Cat Query Why are kitties always shes Even when theyre hes? Feminine to look at, true, Still-their sexes number two. 06-03-78 * Confidential After Mama is asleep Lift the blankets up and peep At that Purple Cat. Keep it secret what you saw Purple Cats against the law (Sos the large Green Rat!) 06-26-78 * December Sky The moon is misted with rain, And moon-tears dribble and drain The length of the sky. They fall Into the Big Dipper, that catches them each and all. 12-09-78 * Deception The emerald grass is high, And silver dewdrops glaze Beneath the pale gold sky Where unicorns still graze. Their horns are ivory, And mythical, its true: But shut your eyes, and see Them real as me and you. 1977

* Difference Little girls arent little boys, They dont make noise, Well, not quite as much When they reach to touch Delicate new toys. 1980 * Dream Album Ive been a pirate on black seas, Explorer where the oceans freeze, A monarch on an opaled throne, An islander with rings of bone Inside the British Colonies thick section Of my boyhood stamp collection. 06-15-78 * Dream Haven (For L. Sprague de Camp) Lands unseen are always best Landscapes in your mind Blessed Islands gleaming west Cartographers cant find. Terra Incognita lies Past all Southern seas, Under unknown golden skies That warms the giant trees. Animals no man has known Mammoth fruits and plants, Palisades of precious stone The shoreline of Romance. 05-06-79 * Earth Arson (for Gabriel Eng)

The demon sits astride a star And rides it down the sky. And from the planet where we are We wave as he shoots by Hello, mixed with goodbye. Is he returning here or not? Nobody seems to know. The earth is melting, molten hot, Till flames leap from the glow. The demons fault, I know! 09-11-78 * Easily Found Theres a land that is lost, anybody can find: Follow the fairy stream Through forests of fable, back in your mind, In the countryside full of dream. Oh, so easy to travel and wander back home, Over the years once more, Where the elves and trolls are teasing the gnome, Trying to make him roar. 08-08-73 * Elftune Ethereal music cheers the night: Flute and tambourine, Fiddle and a soft guitar, Musicians never seen. Fey troubadours stay out of sight, Where the shadows are: Little men in gold and green Who sing to moon and star. 04-09-80 * Fall Melody Theres music in the breath of breeze Exhaling with a wispy wheeze

That scatters leaves on forest floor And has one hundred years or more In singing autumns long before. A hundred autumns of soft wind, A hundred times its thinned The branches of their leaves, till bare: A hundred autumn-times the air And trees have chorused there. 10-28-79 * Fall Showers Summer weeps and grieves, Rain-tears moisten leaves, October grey replaces blue Autumn cries, anew. 09-15-78 * Farewell Rejoice! The cavalcade of dreams arrives, Fancies, dreads, mirages too, The legend-laden caravan unpacks for you. Despair! Processional of dreams departs, Fairies, ghosts recede from view Parading into mist. Reality obtrudes anew. 1978 * Farewell (2) A million melting moons drip Silver down the sky, And spatter lunar madness in your eye. Your brain becomes a moon-ship Voyaging up high So wave your Earth-bound sanity goodbye. 06-17-83 * Feeding Time

Floating on the bay Of green Are seen Dragon snakes at play. Arcing through the air They thrive, And dive Down on sailors there. See them slide and slip On the deck Of the wreck That was once a ship. 02-03-75 * Fond Fright Legends live: Witches give Wicked, withered looks From old books. Fairy rings, Devil wings; Snuggle down so deep, Try to sleep. Demons range Forth from strange Empty marble tombs Toward your rooms. Wake, and thrill Sense the chill Winds that gust your dreams Wake with screams! 03-07-73 * Gift Wrapped Christmastime is package-time, Paper everywhere, Ribbons, cards, and string, till Im

Almost bound to swear! (Scotch tape in my hair). 12-25-78 * Homage (for Jonathan Bacon) Fairies under toadstool tables, Unicorns in forest stables, Beckon me Child-believer in a fables Fantasy. Down along the haunted river Waving willows sway and quiver As I pass And the Sprite Queen makes me give her Wreathes of grass. 07-26-76 * Human Pets People are easy to train, Learning to feed us on cue, Not needing more than a mew To let us inside from the rain. 04-30-78 * Illiteracy Children never learn today Where the meadow-fairies play, Where the elves bask in the sun Where their inch-high horses run. 11-02-91 * Immortal The sun in London comes to shine Above the placid Serpentine And glimmer, glint and glow Upon the statue of a boy:

Proud Peter Pan with elfin joy, Surviving sun and later snow, A pixie out of long ago. 1968 * Industrial Accident The dragon repair shops closed, The villagers all supposed The craftsman ran out of scales, And horns, and thorn-spiked tails. No, that isnt really why The craftsman let work slide by. Hes suffering fire-breath burns: CLOSED UP, TILL MY HEALTH RETURNS. 01-14-79 * Kensington Gardens The sun in London used to shine Above the placid Serpentine Lost summers all too long ago, And I recall as best I can The statue of fey Peter Pan In sunlights glint and glow (Winters, Peter Pan wore snow.) 03-21-80 * Knowledge Children know so much, today: Where the fairy folk do play, Where the elves dance in the sun, Where their inch-high horses run. 12-28-78 *