For little Ji-Ho who loved hula hoops and dinosaurs

Jenna Jenna Joolyjoops
loved to the play with hula hoops.
Then one day she hooped so fast
she made a portal to the past!
And though time travel was a shocker
even THAT did not stop her,
and on she hooped, and farther back,
and farther back,
until one day she was snack
for a dinosaur.
Oops.

---

For little Efraim who loved Climbing Trees

This tree is so enormously big
I could fit a giant inside it.
This tree is so tremendously big
we seem to be tiny beside it.
This tree is so big, I think it’s clear,
that only I can climb it,

but I can’t show you now
cuz it would take you years
and years
to time it.

---

For little Crystal who loved snacks

If I could eat my classroom desk
I would like classrooms more.
(Anything made not of chocolate
is really quite a bore.)
Do not take this personally,
but folks would be better if cake.
And every glass of water
should really be a shake.
I do not mind a flower or two
though they’re better sweetened.
Yes, this life will be well-lived
when everything is eaten.

---

For little Bill who loved sitting on a toilet sideways

Little Bill sat sideways
on a public toilet.
He was having so much fun
and didn’t wanna spoil it
by sitting correctly
or using the right wipes,
and the toilet got so mad at him
it flushed him down the pipes.

Let this be a lesson to those
who poop undaunted.
Always always check
that your toilet
isn’t haunted.

---

For little Dean who loved Lego

One tiny brick at a time.
A press and a click at a time.
It starts with some elbow grease
and ends as a masterpiece.
Just one tiny brick at a time.

---

For little Orion who loved chinchillas

When a chinchilla is very scared,
he slips off his fur and yelps.
And then he’s naked and very scared.

I’m not sure how that helps.

---

For little Michelle who spelled icup and laughed

If you spell “birdy” backwards,
and follow that with a sigh:
it sounds just like “I tricked you!”
Go ahead and try!

If you write out “catepillar”
but stack the letters up and down,
it looks just like
the same word
written by a clown.

A bloody-belly comb jellyfish
poops glitter in the sea so blue.
I know I’ve lost your trust by now,
but that one’s true!

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Thanks to those who responded to my short-lived Instagram Stories call for things you loved as a child. I liked ending this month of 30 poems on a sillier challenge.

What did you love as a child? How was this month for you?