Author of Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz, The Wish Express, "King, King! Double King!", etc.
Originally published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, January 20, 1918.
The snow is white and powdery on
Each road and lane and hill,
And gayly ring the sleigh-bells
In our old Supposyville.
Why, every day at 4 o'clock,
Well, what do you suppose?
Each lad and lass, each man and maid
Drops everything and goes
A-hustling to his Majesty's
Great white toboggan slide -
Sled strapped behind and in the mind
To take full many a ride.
Becapped and booted, sweatered, legginged,
Ready for the snow,
For spills and thrills, in daring, dauntless
Headlong flight they go!
The ministers all leave their books,
The King takes off his crown.
And now they all trudge up the hill,
And now they all swoop down.
And next a dozen take a header,
Landing in a drift;
For unexpected obstacles
Give sleds a sudden lift.
The Lord High Humpus of all Sports
Keeps tally of the tumbles
And way above the laughs and cheers
His booming count-up rumbles.
And those who for an hour have
Kept right-side up with care
Are given little prizes - pshaw,
I wish that we lived there!
A merry snowball battle brings
The coasting to a close.
Just nowhere in the world do folks
Have finer times - I 'spose!
THE FORGETFUL POET
By Ruth Plumly Thompson
Originally published in the Philadelphia Public Ledger, July 28, 1918.
Puzzles
The Forgetful Poet's discoveries were truly amazing. The two spies were spider and spyglass, the fish in a cage was a perch, the pearl a purl in a sweater, the wag not on a tail but on a wagon, the hammer that sang was a bird called the yellow-hammer, diamonds--baseball diamond and bat.
His new verses are quite as comical as usual, but he never can puzzle all of my dears and ducks.
Wise Saws
A horse that bit me,
Yet who wore no bit--
Another one who swam
And relished it!
I saw two other
Creatures of the sea,
Related to the sky--
Besides a tree
That did not grow;
A moon that really shone
And yet was nothing
But a fancy ______.
A sword, I saw
With twenty million blades--
Between two sheltered,
Wooded forest glades.
[Answers next time.]
Copyright © 2008 Eric Shanower and David Maxine. All rights reserved.
