A walrus wore
an evening suit.
He walked the beach
and he looked cute.

He searched the sands
for perfect shells.
And for stories
he could tell.

He looked for a friend
so they'd be a pair
and his stories
he could share.


    Do you know what an evening suit is?  It is a dinner suit and also called a tuxedo.
So a walrus dressed in a tuxedo, might look very cute. Do you ever wonder what a penguin would look like in an evening suit?  How crazy!  If you were going to dress animals, what would a giraffe wear, or a camel?  How about a pig?

    Linda Baie is the hostess with the mostess for our Friday Poetry Roundup today, you can find her post and links to almost 40 other children poets on her bog TeacherDance today.  Thanks, Linda for throwing the party this week.  It is a dandy good time.  And thank you for your day after Halloween poem.  My sister has been bugging me about writing a poem for what happens to all the Halloween costumes, decorations, etc. on the day after.  Now I can point her in the direction of your excellent poem.  Thank you for writing it.  I enjoyed the reading.

GUESS WHO?

Who is out on Halloween night

riding a broom in the pale moon light?

Who sits behind on the witch's broom

and holds on tight with every ZOOM?

Who purrs a loud kitty keen,

to wish us all

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.



    Now, I'm going to try this poem with an echo.  Let's see if it will work?  This way, it becomes a poem for two voices.  The echo is a repeat by students, and everyone joins in on the last line.
Who is out on Halloween night
                                               on Halloween night

riding a broom in the pale moon light?
                                              in the pale moon light?

Who sits behind on the witch's broom
                                              on the witch's broom

and holds on tight with every ZOOM?
                                              with every ZOOM?

Who purrs a loud kitty keen,
                                             a loud kitty keen

to wish us all

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

     I hope you have a great Halloween.  Today's poem is a riddle poem.  Can you write your own riddles for some of the things Halloween?  My first thought was a jack-o-lantern.

Do not think
it is hog wash.
Before he changed
he was an orange squash.  

   I had to use my rhyming dictionary for that one.  There aren't a lot a great words to rhyme with squash.  Hey, just have fun.  We're not trying for Shakespearean sonnets here.  Enjoy your holiday and make poetry a part of it.

The Witch

Who is that
knocking at my door?
It's Snow White's evil
step-mother.

She carries a basket
of apples red.

Pick-your-treat,
is what she said.

Then she let out a 
gravelly cackle.
Her evil voice
raised the cat's hackles.

I think I'll wait
until after you.
I slammed the door
and then yelled,

BOO!

Happy Halloween.



      Oh, this poem is a mess.  Who ever heard of rhyming door with mother?  And, yes "apples, red," is a reversal.  So I think this poem needs some more work, but we can't all be perfect everyday.  So, this is what you get.  And I didn't even draw a picture to go with today's poem yet.  But just think, tomorrow is Halloween so you only have one more Halloween poem to put up with this year.  Have fun writing your own poem today.  Here is an idea, write a list poem today on all the things Halloween.  Or take one of the things on your list and write an acrostic poem for the word.  Have fun writing.  
     

THE CLOCK

TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK.
at my door
I hear a knock.
It's a grandfather clock.

He has a bag.
He wants to be fed.

Tick-or-treat,
the clock said

Happy Halloween

     So, only two more Halloween poems to go.  Yahoo.  I mentioned yesterday playing with other words to rhyme with "trick," and I thought "tick" would work nicely.  This poem also works as a reverso.  Try reading it from the bottom up and see what you think?  Can you find the onomatopoeia in this poem?  If you were to perform this poem with your class using multiple voices, how would you break the parts up?  Can you write a Halloween poem today, too?  Have fun.
    What do you think of my grandfather clock? I had a lot of fun sketching that clock costume before I colored it.  I hope you have a fun day too. Happy writing.

DOLPHIN

Knocking at my door
was a bottle nose dolphin.
He knocked some more.
He didn't look too thin.

He carried a bag,
wanted to be fed.

FLIP-or-treat,
is what the dolphin said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.


     Oh my goodness.  I was all ready to post a lovely haiku today with a photograph.  I was going to be done with all the permutations on my Halloween rhyme, but then on Saturday, I got a Halloween quote and picture of a dog in my email box.  It said "Lick or treat."  It was such a good idea to play with rhyming words for the trick, that I wanted to try my own.  So, I might make this Halloween party last all week.  I only need three more Halloween poems.  I hope you are having a spooky good time.  Can you write a spooky poem today?  Try it.  What frightens you?  How does it feel. What do you do?  Have fun writing.

MY BEST FRIEND JOHN

Knocking at my door

was Monster John

face all white,

waxy and wan.

I was scared.

My cheeks turned red.

Trick-or-treat

was what

Monster John said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

     See, I'm still playing with this silly rhyme.  This time I've taken the name of my friend and plugged it into the poem.  Do you have a friend who is going trick-or-treating for Halloween?  What costume will he wear?  Can you write your own poem about your friend?

Knocking at my door

was Princess Joy.

She carried a wand,

a children's toy.

I laughed so hard,

my cheeks turned red.

Trick-or-treat,

was what the Princess said.

Happy Halloween.

     All right!  Enough.  But, wouldn't you like to try writing your own Halloween poem and put your name in the poem.  I hope you have a happy Sunday writing poetry.

THE YETTI

Knocking at my door
a furry yeti,
held out his hand
all hairy, sweaty.

I was scared.
Thought I'd be dead.

Tick-or-treat,
was what
the yeti said.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.


     I'm still playing with my Halloween rhyme. Have you tried it yet?  I had two other ideas.
One was to try using fairy tale characters.


Knocking at my door
a princess with her pea.
She held out the legume
to hand it to me.

She was distressed,
found a pea under her bed.

Trick-or-treat,
 the princess said.

Happy Halloween.

     Then, the second idea, to try writing the poem as a reverso--a poem that makes sense read from the top or the bottom.  With a tiny bit of tweaking, I made it work for the princess.


Happy Halloween
the princess said

Trick-or-treat,
She'd found a pea under her bed.
She was distressed
to hand it to me.

She held out the legume
the princess and the pea--
knocking at my door.

    I was delighted to see this works with this poem.  Now it is your turn.  Don't you want to try?  Pick an animal, or a fairy tale character, or your favorite character from children's literature and give it a go.  Have fun playing.  Please share your creation in the comments.