Reading Level: Grade 4

Poems suitable for reading by 9-10 year olds.

Homework, I Love You

Homework, I love you. I think that you’re great.
It’s wonderful fun when you keep me up late.
I think you’re the best when I’m totally stressed,
preparing and cramming all night for a test.

Homework, I love you. What more can I say?
I love to do hundreds of problems each day.
You boggle my mind and you make me go blind,
but still I’m ecstatic that you were assigned.

Homework, I love you. I tell you, it’s true.
There’s nothing more fun or exciting to do.
You’re never a chore, for it’s you I adore.
I wish that our teacher would hand you out more.

Homework, I love you. You thrill me inside.
I’m filled with emotions. I’m fit to be tied.
I cannot complain when you frazzle my brain.
Of course, that’s because I’m completely insane.

My Cat Knows Karate

My cat knows karate.
My frog knows kung fu.
My poodle knows judo.
My turtle does too.

They all became black belts
by watching TV;
some Chuck Norris movies,
and films with Bruce Lee.

They liked learning lessons
from Jean-Claude Van Damme,
and acting like action-film star
Jackie Chan.

They practiced their punches,
their blocks, and their kicks
until they were masters
of martial arts tricks.

You’d think they’d be good now
at guarding our house,
but, yesterday morning,
they ran from my mouse.

My mouse is a crack-up.
I laughed at his prank.
Do you think it’s weird that
my mouse drives a tank?

There was a girl named Wendy Wise,
who didn’t like to exercise.
She wouldn’t ever lift a weight,
or skip a rope, or roller skate.
You’d never see her ride a bike,
or bounce a ball, or take a hike.
She wouldn’t run, or trot, or jog,
or go outside and walk the dog.
She wouldn’t skip or climb a hill,
or practice any kind of skill
like jumping rope or playing ball.
She wouldn’t exercise at all.

It’s no surprise that Wendy Wise,
who didn’t like to exercise,
would pass away one fateful day,
and in a rather tragic way.
You see, that day, up in the sky,
a tiny bird was flying by.
It lost a feather, small and brown,
that slowly, slowly, drifted down,
and landed right on Wendy’s head.
It knocked her down and killed her dead.
She was, it seems, so frail and weak,
with such a sickly, sad physique
that, when that feather touched her hair,
it did her in, right then and there.

Poor Wendy! What an awful shame.
If only she had played a game,
or went outside to run around,
or practiced jumping up and down,
or had a swim, or took a dive,
today she might still be alive.

Regrettably, it’s now too late,
and Wendy Wise has met her fate.
But I, my friend, would much prefer
that you do not end up like her.
So please go out and play a game,
because, you see, despite her name,
to never, ever exercise
like Wendy, isn’t very wise.

To B or Not to B

I bought a black banana,
And a broken baseball bat.
A burst balloon, a busted boat,
A beat-up bowler hat.

I wasn’t being brainy, bright,
or brilliant, but you see,
My brain was boggled after
Being bitten by a bee.

The Cough

There was a man who coughed a cough,

a cough so strong his head fell off.

His head fell off. It hit the ground.

It hit the ground and rolled around,

and rolled around and rolled away,
away into a field of hay,
a field of hay that caused a wheeze,
a wheeze that turned into a sneeze,
a sneeze he sneezed from dusk till dawn.
At dawn he sneezed his head back on.

I Rode a Rainbow Unicorn

I rode a rainbow unicorn.
We sailed across the sky.
(I’d fed him lots of Skittles,
since they always make him fly.)

We took off like a comet
on a long and graceful flight.
And everywhere the people stopped
and marveled at the sight.

His path was bright and colorful.
It sparkled, shimmered, shined,
as he arced across the heavens
shooting rainbows from behind.

The Games in My Room

The video games that
I keep in my room,
like Tetris, Terraria,
Minecraft, and Doom,
and one about somebody
raiding a tomb,
and one with invaders from space…

They’re up on the dresser
and down on the floor.
The Legend of Zelda
and Street Fighter IV,
Splatoon and Nintendogs,
Ms. Pac Man and more,
are scattered all over the place.

There’s Sonic the Hedgehog
and Dragon Ball Z,
and Mario Party,
and Madden for Wii,
and FIFA 15 for the
Playstation 3.
They’re littered and strewn all around.

There’s Kidz Sports and Kirby
and Kingdom Hearts II,
Jurassic Park, Jeopardy,
Just Dance Wii U,
and don’t forget Pokemon
Red, Green, and Blue,
all over my desk and the ground.

They’re under my bed
in a battered old box.
They’re tossed in the closet
with Legos and blocks.
They’re stuffed in a drawer
with my undies and socks.
They’re thrown around every which way.

It’s kind a problem.
It’s sort of a shame.
It’s clearly my fault.
No one else is to blame.
The game I can’t locate
is always the same…
it’s the one that I’m wanting to play.

Emilio, Emilio

Emilio, Emilio,
was never one to stealio,
but had no meat
or bread to eat.
Not even an apple peelio.

Emilio, Emilio,
he got his rod and reelio,
to catch some fish
to fill his dish,
but all he caught were eelio.

Emilio, Emilio,
did not like eating eelio.
He sold them to
a merchant who
gave him an awesome dealio.

Emilio, Emilio,
at last I can revealio,
bought lots of meat
and bread to eat,
and a fancy new automobilio.

Inside Our Fridge

Inside our fridge there’s still a smidge
of old and moldy ham.
And, next to it, there’s quite a bit
of dried-up, fried-up Spam.

The bacon in the crisper bin
has been there much too long.
The sausage links have such a stink.
Their smell is simply wrong.

The ribs and roast are both the most
disgusting ever seen.
Yes, every piece has rancid grease
and spots of bluish-green.

We left it there without a care
for weeks, or months, or years.
Now all this rotten food we’ve got
is bringing us to tears.

I guess we should have understood
it must be eaten quick.
And if we wait till it’s too late,
it might just make us sick.

But now this meat — too old to eat,
too fossilized to fork,
from long before the dinosaurs —
is all Jurassic Pork.

I Fix My Duck with Duct Tape

I fix my duck with duct tape
when she breaks. That’s what I do.
If my gorilla has a crack
I use Gorilla Glue.

My monkey needs a monkey wrench
just every now and then.
And chicken wire is what I use
to mend my broken hen.

For snails, I use nails,
and, for penguins, I use pins.
For fish, I’m fond of fish paste
for fixing fractured fins.

So bring your broken beasts;
I’ll give them tender loving care,
and make them good as new at my
stuffed animal repair.