By: Robert Frost 

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

By: Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

By: James McDonald

Aim high to the sky,
In all that you do.
Because you just never know,
What it takes to be you.

Be strong and be brave,
But at the same time be kind.
And always be sure,
That you’re using your mind.

By: Myra Cohn Livingston

If you ever, ever, ever,

If you ever, ever, ever,

If you ever, ever, ever, meet a whale,

You must never, never, never,

You must never, never, never,

You must never, never, never touch its tail.

For if you ever, ever, ever,

If you ever, ever, ever

If you ever, ever, ever touch its tail,

For if you ever, ever, ever,

If you ever, ever, ever

If you ever, ever, ever touch its tail,

You will never, never, never,

You will never, never, never,

You will never, never

Meet another whale.

By: Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

    We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

   We wear the mask!

By: Emily Dickenson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

By: Kenn Nesbitt

I started on my homework,
but my pen ran out of ink…
My hamster ate my homework…
My computer's on the blink…

I tripped and dropped my homework
in the soup my mom was cooking…
My brother flushed it down the toilet
when I wasn't looking…

My mother ran my homework
through the washer and the dryer…
An airplane crashed into our house…
My homework caught on fire…

Tornadoes blew my notes away…
Volcanoes rocked our town…
My books were taken hostage
by an evil killer clown…

Some aliens abducted me…
I had a shark attack…
A pirate swiped my homework
and refused to give it back…

I worked on these excuses
so darned long my teacher said,
"I think you'll find it's easier
to do the work instead."

By: Abby Jenkins

Black and white

Thick and furry

Fast as the wind

Always in a hurry

Couple of spots

Rub my ears

Always comes when his name he hears

Loves his ball; it's his favorite thing

What's most fun for him? Everything!

Great big tongue that licks my face

Has a crate, his very own space

Big brown eyes like moon pies

He's my friend till the very end!

By: Rita Joe

I lost my talk

The talk you took away.

When I was a little girl

At Shubenacadie school.

You snatched it away:

I speak like you

I think like you

I create like you

The scrambled ballad, about my word.

Two ways I talk

Both ways I say,

Your way is more powerful.

So gently I offer my hand and ask,

Let me find my talk

So I can teach you about me.

By: Frank Dempster Sherman

At evening when I go to bed
I see the stars shine overhead;
They are the little daisies white
That dot the meadow of the Night.

And often while I'm dreaming so,
Across the sky the Moon will go;
It is a lady, sweet and fair,
Who comes to gather daisies there.

For, when at morning I arise,
There's not a star left in the skies;
She's picked them all and dropped them down
Into the meadows of the town.

By Nikki Giovanni

I always like summer

best

you can eat fresh corn

from daddy's garden

and okra

and greens

and cabbage

and lots of

barbecue

and buttermilk

and homemade ice-cream

at the church picnic

and listen to

gospel music

outside

at the church

homecoming

and you go to the mountains with

your grandmother

and go barefooted

and be warm

all the time

not only when you go to bed

and sleep

By: Jeanette Cheal

The dolly sat upon the shelf

in the toy maker's shop all by herself.

The dolly only had one eye,

so all the children passed her by.

They scoffed at the dolly;

they weren't very kind

Then a child came in

with a dolly in mind.

Her mother led her around the shop.

At the shelf with the dolly her mother did stop.

The child reached out and felt for the dolly.

The toy maker shouted, "Dear child, I'm so sorry,

this dolly is blind; she only has one eye.

I've a dolly right here you might like to buy."

"No, this is the one," the child said to her mother.

"If I can't have her, I don't want any other."

So off dolly went with the child who was kind,

and just like the dolly, this child was blind.

By: Monica Kulling

I draw a square

on top of a square

on top of a square

with chalk.

The stone has fling

my step has spring

I hop and I hop and

I hop.

By: Betsy Franco

When you leave your bike in the bike rack,

don't you wish you knew

if the bicycles talked to each other

and what your bike says about you?

By: Carol Diggory Shields

I'm a moonwalker, walking on the moon.

I'm a jungle stalker, stalking wild baboons.

I'm a superhero, skimming through the blue.

Puddle jumping, leaf-pile leaping, I'm a kangaroo.

I'm a red-eyed robot, clanking up the road.

I'm an eighteen-wheeler with a heavy load.

I'm a famous rock star, moving very cool.

Actually,

I'm just me,

Walking home from school.

By: Constance Levy

Listen as your feet

tell you where they walk;

gravel crackles,

grass squeaks,

sneaker slaps,

on hard concrete.

Tune in to

Friendly chitchat

of feet meeting feet:

hurried shuffles, clacks, thumps

crossing busy streets.

Hear your feet talk

street talk!

By: J Patrick Lewis

Home of the moth: cloth.

Home of the mole: hole.

Home of the bear: lair.

Home of the ants: pants.

Home of the gnu: zoo.

Home of the flea: me!

By: Ute Indian

All around me quiet.

All around me peaceful.

All around me lasting.

All around me home.

By: X. J. Kennedy

A sea horse saw a sawhorse

On a seesaw meant for two.

"See here, sawhorse," said sea horse,

"May I seesaw with you?"

"I'll see, sea horse," said sawhorse.

"Right now I'm having fun

Seeing if I'll be seasick

On a seesaw meant for one."

By: Bobbi Katz

No one has a fingerprint

just like you.

No one smells exactly

the way that you do!

There are "look-alikes" and people

with the very same name.

But no two people are exactly just the same!

By: Lilian Moore

Breathe and blow

white clouds

with every puff.

It's cold today,

cold enough

to see your breathe.

Huff!

Breathe dragon smoke

today!

By: Samuel G. Goodrich

Higglery, pigglety, pop!

The dog has eaten the mop;

The pig's in a hurry,

The cat's in a flurry,

Higglety, pigglety, pop!

By: Emily George

If you walked home

From school with me,

You'd see the things

I get to see.

By: Shirlee Curlee Bingham

Rain, reign, rein,

English is a pain.

Although the words

sound just alike,

the spelling's not the same!

There, their, they're,

enough to make you swear.

Too many ways

to write one sound,

I just don't think it's fair!

To, two, too,

so what's a kid to do?

I think I'll go

to live on Mars,

and leave this mess with ewe!

(you?)

By: Valerie Worth

They always

End up

Fighting-

The soft

Square

Sandwich,

The round

Heavy

Apple.