The Wasp

Imagine the fuming and the fuss

when a wasp was trapped on the bus:

everyone would start to panic

at the thought of stingers titanic!

Because these guys are rough and tough

we put their name on lots of stuff—

from sporting teams and motor cars

to navy planes and cheap cigars!

I must, though, pass on this zinger—

most wasps do not have a stinger!

Some are single and like to roam

but social wasps can build a home,

a place where they are pleased to stay--

ruled by queens they must obey.

At killing pests they are the tops:

they help us save our valued crops,

and since they eat those nasty bugs,

let’s give these wasps some great big hugs!

Easter Week in Pennsylvania

In the high near summer heat

the anemones quickly disappeared,

and though spring and April

were barely under way,

we built castles in the sand,

picked small boy bouquets

of dandelions and violets,

and saw lilacs ready to bloom.

How wide the world had become!

We could not believe its arch,

how much there was to see

of blue and green wonder:

a Carolina wren sang all day,

the woodpecker tapped his notes,

and all of us, the young and old,

joined in the ancient round. 

The Horse

The very first horse, if you please,

would have only  reached my knees--

and it was only ages later

that horses got to be much greater!

It must have taken someone fervent

to make the horse into a servant:

I have no doubt the horse resisted

before he agreed-- to be enlisted!

For centuries the horse complied,

did all the chores and let us ride--

they could pull a plow or a cart,

and did each task with lots of heart.

Today their jobs are just a few,

there’s not much work for them to do,

but still we love their strength and grace—

for them we’ll make a special place,

and carry on that close relation

which defies all explanation.

Frogs

Frogs, we know, are like the otter:

sometimes on land, sometimes in water.

(The word to use is amphibious,

but today that seems far too serious!)

These beasts have never met a pond

of which they were not very fond:

after they hatch, they live in the drink—

they swim like fish and will not sink!

We call these babes the polliwogs,

and til they graduate as frogs,

they use their gills instead of lungs--

and have not grown those great big tongues;

which help a lot, we shall surmise,

to catch a lunch of tasty flies!

The smaller frogs will make a peep,

while bull frogs have a croak that’s deep;

and unlike you, I think the frog

would say that heaven is a bog!