Where The Sidewalk Ends (7 page)

Said Mungry, “They can’t harm me.”

He just smiled and licked his lips and ate the U.S. Army.

The President sent all his bombers-Mungry still was calm.

Put his head back, gulped the planes, and gobbled up the bomb.

He ate his town and ate the city-ate and ate and ate-

And then he said, “I think I’ll eat the whole United States.”

And so he ate Chicago first and munched the Water Tower,

And then he chewed on Pittsburgh but he found it rather sour.

He ate New York and Tennessee, and all of Boston town,

Then drank the Mississippi River just to wash it down.

And when he’d eaten every state, each puppy, boy and girl

He wiped his mouth upon his sleeve and went to eat the world.

He ate the Egypt pyramids and every church in Rome,

And all the grass in Africa and all the ice in Nome.

He ate each hill in green Brazil and then to make things worse

He decided for dessert he’d eat the universe.

He started with the moon and stars and soon as he was done

He gulped the clouds, he sipped the wind and gobbled up the sun.

Then sitting there in the cold dark air.

He started to nibble his feet,

Then his legs, then his hips

Then his neck, then his lips

Till he sat there just gnashin’ his teeth

‘Cause nothin’ was nothin’ was

Nothin’ was nothin’ was

Nothin’ was left to eat.

MY
BEARD

My beard grows to my toes,

I never wears no clothes,

I wraps my hair

Around my bare.

And down the road I goes.

MERRY
…

No one’s hangin’ stockin’s up.

No one’s bakin’ pie.

No one’s lookin’ up to see

A new star in the sky.

No one’s talkin’ brotherhood.

No one’s givin’ gifts.

And no one loves a Christmas tree

On March the twenty-fifth.

THE
SEARCH

I went to find the pot of gold

That’s waiting where the rainbow ends.

I searched and searched and searched and searched

And searched and searched, and then-

There it was, deep in the grass.

Under an old and twisty bough.

It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine at last….

What do I search for now?

The work and love of many people

went into the making of this book.

To Ursula Nordstrom, Barbara Borack,

Dorothy Hagen, Beri Greenwald,

and Gloria Bressler… and to Bill Cole

for his continued encouragement… Thank you.

The following poems have been published previously in slightly different versions:

“I Must Remember,” “Flag,” and “Oh Have You Heard” previously appeared in
Poems forSeasonsand Celebrations
edited by William Cole. Copyright 1961 by William Cole. World Publishing Company. “Oh Have You Heard” previously appeared as “Oh Did You Hear?”

“Early Bird” first appeared in Poetry Brief edited by William Cole. Copyright 1971 by William Cole. The Macmillan Company. The poem also appeared in lyric form. Copyright 1973 Evil Eye Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission.

“Rain,” “For Sale,” “Tight Hat,” “If I Had a Brontosaurus,” and “The Generals” previously appeared in
Oh,That’s Ridiculous!
Poems selected by William Cole. Text copyright 1972 by William Cole. The Viking Press, Inc. “The Generals” also appeared in lyric form as “The Peace Proposal.” Copyright 1972 Evil Eye Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission.

“Boa Constrictor” first appeared in lyric form.
TRO
– Š Copyright 1962, 1968, and 1969 by Hollis Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission. “Boa Constrictor” also appeared in
Oh, What Nonsense!
Poems selected by William Cole. Text copyright Š1966 by William Cole. The Viking Press, Inc.

“Invention” and “My Rules” previously appeared in Pick
Me Up: A Book ofShort Poems
edited by William Cole. Copyright 1972 by William Cole. The Macmillan Company.

“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” first appeared in
Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls
edited by William Cole. Copyright 1964 by William Cole. World Publishing Company. The poem also appeared in lyric form as “Sahra Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.” Copyright 1973 Evil Eye Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission.

“Drats” previously appeared as “Wanted” in
A Cat-Hater’s Handbook or the Ailurophobe’s Delight
edited by William Cole and TomiUngerer. Copyright 1963 by William Cole and Tomi Ungerer.

The Dial Press, Inc.

“The Unicorn” and “The Flying Festoon” previously appeared in lyric form.
TRO
– Copyright 1962 and 1968 Hollis Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission.

“Helping” first appeared in lyric form in [_Free To Be…
You and Me
. Copyright 1972 by The Ms. Foundation for Women, Inc. The poem also appeared in
Free To Be … You and Me.
Copyright 1974, Free to be Foundation, Inc. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

“The Bloath” previously appeared as “About the Bloath” in
The Birds and the Beasts Were There
edited by William Cole. Copyright 1963 by William Cole. World Publishing Company.

“Won’t You?” previously appeared as an untitled poem in
A Book
of Love Poems edited by William Cole. Copyright 1965 by William Cole. The Viking Press, Inc.

“Paul Bunyan” previously appeared in lyric form. Copyright 1968, 1969 Evil Eye Music, Inc., New York, New York. Used by permission.

“The Silver Fish” previously appeared in
TheSea, Shipsand Sailors: Poems, Songs and Shanties
selected by William Cole. Copyright 1967 by William Cole. The Viking Press, Inc.