by Kurt Cyrus

Wanda was a hugger.
It’s how she said hello.
The folks she squeezed were less than pleased
at how the hugs would go.

She held each victim tightly,
compressed each torso snugly.
Her steel embrace could turn your face
a dozen shades of ugly.

She hugged her friends and neighbors.
Their cats and doggies too.
She pressed their lungs and popped their tongues
and left them black-and-blue.

The crushing now has ended.
Let’s give a cheer for Wanda!
Though clearly nuts, it did take guts
to hug an anaconda. . . .

Copyright © 2013 Kurt Cyrus. From Your Skeleton is Showing: Rhymes of Blunder from Six Feet Under. Disney-Hyperion. Reprinted by permission of the author.

About the Author

Kurt Cyrus has written and/or illustrated numerous picture books, including Tadpole Rex, Hotel Deep, Oddhopper Opera, and Your Skeleton is Showing. He has also illustrated books written by Eve Bunting, Lisa Wheeler and M. T. Anderson. When not writing, he enjoys tending his tree farm. He lives with his family in McMinnville, Oregon, one block off of Sesame Street.

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