Poems

When Sarah Surfs the Internet

When Sarah surfs the Internet she starts by checking mail. She answers all her messages from friends in great detail. She plays a game, or maybe two, and watches a cartoon, then chats with kids in places like Rwanda and Rangoon. She reads about her favorite bands. She buys an MP3. She downloads movie trailers and she looks for stuff for free. She reads about celebrities and dreams of wealth and fame, then watches music videos and plays another game. If you should say, "Your time is up. I need to use the Net," she always whines, "I haven't got my homework finished yet!" --Kenn Nesbitt My Pet Germs I have a half a billion germs I keep as tiny pets. They're cute and clean and never mean And give me no regrets. They spend all day engaged in play upon my skin and hair. They're on my clothes, between my toes and in my underwear. They dance and shout and bounce about. They run and jump and slide. My epidermis teems with germs who party on my hide. I never fret about the pets inside my shirt and socks. I love them there but wonder where they keep their litter box? --Kenn Nesbitt Today I Had a Problem Today I had a problem when I tried to make my bed. My blankets and my comforter got wrapped around my head. I went to fluff the pillows but the pillow cover tore, and feathers flew all over as I stumbled round the floor. I accidentally grabbed the sheets and pulled them as I fell. I have to say, it seems my day's not starting off too well. I tripped upon a pillowcase and landed in a heap. Good grief! That's it! I'm staying here and going back to sleep! --Kenn Nesbitt      Digging for Diamonds I'm digging for diamonds. I'm digging for gold. I'm digging for silver that's shiny and cold. I'm digging all day and I'm digging all night. I'm digging for rubies all sparkling and bright. I plan to get famous. I plan to get rich by digging up gemstones in ditch after ditch. And yet, from these ditches I've dug in the ground, there weren't any diamonds or coins to be found. I haven't got silver or rubies, you see... I just have my mom and dad yelling at me. For though I found nothing from digging till dawn, my parents found holes where we once had a lawn. --Kenn Nesbitt                                      My Goldfish Took up Tennis My goldfish took up tennis. They installed a little net at the bottom of their fish tank for their first official set. They got tennis balls and racquets. They got tennis shoes and shorts, for my fish are fond of tennis more than any other sports. It's a funny thing to watch them. when they practice every day, as the tennis balls they serve each other they flow away. I Thought it Was a Basketball I thought it was a basketball. Instead it was a globe. What should have been a scooter was pajamas and a robe. The box I thought had race cars or a new computer game, turned out to be a sweater and an empty picture frame. The drum set that I asked you for turned out to be a desk, and all the other gifts I got were equally grotesque. So when you're finished with your rounds if you have time enough, dear Santa, please come back; you gave me someone else's stuff! --Linda Knaus and Kenn Nesbitt Posted by Aamina Usmani and Yusra Shaikh