I built a house
One afternoon
With bucket, cup,
And tablespoon,
Then scooped a shovel-
ful of shore
On top to add
The second floor.
But when the fingers
Of the sea
Reached up and waved
A wave to me,
It tumbled down
Like dominoes
And disappeared
Between my toes.
Copyright © 1991 J. Patrick Lewis. From the book “Earth Verses and Water Rhymes.” Simon & Schuster/Atheneum. Reprinted by permission of the author.
J. Patrick Lewis’s book of poems—Gulls Hold Up the Sky—was published in October 2010 by Laughing Fire Press. His adult poems have appeared in Gettysburg Review, New England Review, New Letters, Southern Humanities Review, new renaissance, Kansas Quarterly, Fine Madness, over 130 poems in Light Quarterly, and many others.
In May 2011 the Poetry Foundation named him the third U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate (2011-2013). He has published eighty-five children’s picture/poetry books to date with Creative Editions, Knopf, Atheneum, Dial, Harcourt, Little, Brown, National Geographic, Chronicle, Holiday House, Scholastic, and others.
He has made over 530 school visits here and abroad. He also keynotes at conferences. His website is: www.jpatricklewis.com
it is like a song