RIDING THE BUS

I got on the bus
and what I saw 
was quite curious.
There was a man, 
most studious,
working on an abacus.
Another man 
read Leviticus
while a frivolous woman
was hacking, 
her poor esophagus.
I saw a small boy
with a marvelous toy blunderbuss
next to him was a kid carrying
a jar with a phosphorous octopus.
You probably think this is ludicrous,
but I thought it was most marvelous.
Riding the bus
can be quite hilarious.

     I'm going crazy and having fun writing poetry.  Have you ever tried to do one of those math problems that say how many people got on and how many got off a bus at each stop? 

A bus with 10 riders is going down Main Street.
The bus stops at Green Street and two people get off and three get on.
The bus stops at Market Street and five people get off and six get on.
How many people are on the bus?

Then at the end you're supposed to be able to figure out how many people are still on the bus?  Sometimes it is a trick question because you forgot to count the bus driver, so your answer is off by one person.

That was what I was thinking about while I was writing this poem.  Have you ridden a bus?  Were there different kinds of people on your bus?  I couldn't think what to write a poem about today, so I opened my rhyming dictionary randomly and was on the "us" page with lots of delicious possibilities.  Do you want to try?  Find a rhyming dictionary and open it to any page and see what words jump out and just beg to be in your poem.  Listen to them and have fun writing. 

I will think happy thoughts today, making my own good day and a good day for others.

Happy April Fools Day

The bus was late for school today
I wondered when it would come.
And then I was late getting off
my pants were stuck with gum.
I could not get up from my seat
I thought I was stuck there tight.
I guess I'll sit here through the day
then ride on home tonight.



    This has to be a draft. The rhyme is there but the rhythm is very, very rough, so I need to go back and work on this some more. 
    I'm so glad it is April.  Can you write your own April Fools poem today?  What tricks did you play, or were played on you?  Have fun writing.

BUS RIDE

People cry,
    scream,
        and fuss
whenever I take
     my lion
          on the bus.

He doesn't bring
    his entire pride.
So why can't they share
    a simple bus ride?

They yell,
    they moan,
        they even shout.
They point at the door
     and say, GET OUT!


      Do you ever ride the bus?  What crazy characters do you see on your ride?
Planes, buses and trains--we often meet new people when were riding along.  But what if you were to meet an animal, or a robot.  Can you write a poem about who you'd meet?  Have fun writing.

RIDING MY IMAGINATION

My bus
is a chariot,
a magical sleigh,
a big yellow banana,
to lift me away.

I'm a goldfinch flying.
It's really too cool.
My imagination soaring
as I land at school.

    I had a great day yesterday, I got to play with my art supplies to draw this silly bus.  It was fun.  This poem uses several metaphors.  Can you find them?  I had a simile in this poem when I began--the second stanza I started "Like a goldfinch flying,"  but in my editing process I changed the line and put another metaphor in the poem.
      How do you get to school?  What do you think about on your way to school?  Can you write a poem about that today?  I hope you don't have to go to school on Saturday and can have time to write.  Have a great weekend.  

Riding to School

Meet me on our yellow school bus.
We can take a ride.
We will look for seats together
sitting side by side.


     If you rode a school bus today, who would you want to be sitting in the seat next to you?  Can you write a poem about that?  Have fun.

WHEELS ON THE ROAD

The wheels on the car,
squish, squish
thump, thump
over the hot tar road.

The wheels on the pick up truck
squish, squish
bump,bump
over the macadam road.

The wheels on the dump truck
squish, squish
rattle, rattle
over the gravel road.

The wheels on the semi truck
squish, squish
swish, swish
over the highway road.

The wheels on the bus
squish, squish
jump, jump
over the wet, black road.

All the vehicles
come and go, come and go
splashing, bouncing
rolling over all our roads.


  There were a lot of cars out on my morning walk, and this is what I came up with.  If you're a fan of THE WHEELS ON THE BUS, you might see some similarities, except I'm going with different vehicles; and all of the tires go squish, squish.  Do you have an idea why?

   Now stick with me here.  I jumped from this idea to how I could take the same cadence of WHEELS, to my pet turtle.

MY PET TURTLE

The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
ducks right in,
ducks right in.
The head on my turtle,
ducks right in,
hiding in his shell.

Can you see how the verses for the feet and tail might follow?  Now, jump back to a child going to bed.

GOING TO BED

The toes on my feet
tuck right in,
tuck right in,
tuck right in.
The toes on my feet
tuck right in
to my snugly bed.

  Then you could move to:
the feet on my legs, the knees on my legs, the shins on my legs, the thighs on my legs-- you name a body part and it can be tucked into bed.  And if a child doesn't want to go to sleep he could keep you going all night thinking of body parts to tuck into bed.

  So, here is your challenge--think of an object--animal, mineral, or vegetable, and write your own short verse using this repetitive cadence.  Have fun with this, you can be as weird and bizarre as you choose.  Just WRITE, and have fun with poetry.

Grasshopper

A grasshopper in the lantana

all yellow and black and green

was a big hopper in the lantana

the biggest that I've ever seen.

The grasshopper in the lantana

was looking hungry and mean.

That grasshopper in my lantana

was eating my leafy greens.

     Can you guess what I saw this morning when I was watering the plants?  Can you write your own poem about something you saw this morning?


Let's see if I can do this

Forty pairs of school shoes
sat on the school bus floor
trying to be quiet
'til we opened up the door.

Then forty pairs of school shoes
marched out the school bus door
then the bus is quiet 'til 
they're back to ride some more.

If I Drove the Bus

If I drove the bus
I'd toot my horn
at folks on the street.
Toot, toot, toot.

If I drove the bus
I'd turn on the wipers
and listen to the blades.
Swish, swish, swish.

If I drove the bus
I'd travel up and down hills
and see across the bay
from my high seat.

If I drove the bus
I'd drive straight to you
to pick you up just so
I could show you
the driving I can do.

  The inspiration for this poem came from my friend and poetry pal Heidi Mordhorst, who has a blog My Juicy Universe.  Hop over to Heidi's blog to read her poem and find out more about the great poetry books for children she has had published.   I met Heidi at a Highlight's Founders Workshop in Poetry with David Harrison last May.  I hope to see her at the next poetry workshop in 112 days.
  So if you could drive a bus, what would you do?  Where would you drive?  Who would be on the bus with you?  Write a poem about your adventure.