The Man From Timbuktu
From the book The Armpit of Doom
I’ll tell you of a man I knew
who claimed he came from Timbuktu.
He said, “I have the world to see!”
So off he went to Timbukthree.
Then Timbukfour and Timbukfive
were where he seemed to come alive.
He went to Timbuksix and -seven,
and Timbukeight, -nine, -ten, -eleven.
Then Timbuktwelve and -thirteen too,
he liked them more than Timbuktu.
The last I heard, he’s doing fine.
He lives in Timbukninetynine.
So, kids, if all you ever do
is take a trip to Timbuktu,
at least you’ll have a lot more fun
than staying home in Timbukone.
But if you have the world to see…
continue on to Timbukthree.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 2
Topics: Poems about Kooky Characters, Travel
Poetic Techniques: Dialogue, Narrative Poems, Repetition, Wordplay
From the book The Armpit of Doom
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