We Think About Pets

(For Maya and Leo Toyokawa)

If you want to have a pet:

think of all the critters you could get!

You might choose a dog or a cat,

but you would surely not care for a bat.

Some have yearned for a kangaroo--

but I think they’re best in a zoo,

and should someone give you a yak,

I bet you would send it back!

Your mom had a guinea pig

(they look like they’re wearing a wig),

and perhaps you would like an eagle--

but they are fierce-- unlike a beagle!

So,  if all of this seems to much--
just stick with that doggy named Dutch!