AN INVITATION
Let's be spooky. Lets have fun!
We'll scare ourseves before we're done
with ghosts and goblins - winds that howl -
Things that fly and things that prowl.
We'll talk about such creepy stuff
until we both get scared enough
to hear things that we cannot see
and see things that just cannot be.
Let's be spooky - you and me.
Bobbi Katz
AUTUMN GHOST SOUNDS
When the moon
rides high,
up overhead -
and I am snug
and warm,
in bed -
in the autumn dark
the ghosts move 'round
making their
mournful,
moaning sound.
I listen to know
when the ghosts
go by.
I hear a wail,
and I hear a sigh.
But I can't quite tell
which I hear
the most -
the wind,
or the wail
of some passing ghost.
Anonymous
GHOST BUS
Underneath the lamppost,
In the middle of the night,
A ghost bus make a silent stop,
A strange and fearful sight.
At the bus top at your corner,
Something big and green climbed down.
It's looking for your bedroom,
And it has searched all over town.
You thought it couldn't find you,
That you were safe and you were sound.
You thought that you could hide,
Where you never could be found.
But now it's almost here,
You know it loves the dark of night.
There's only one thing you can do,
Quick! Turn on the light!
Whew!
Joe Wayman
A MAGIC CHANT
If in the dark you're frightened,
Here's all you have to do.
Say: Igga bigga,
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
These words give you protection
From ghosts - and witches, too.
Say: Igga bigga
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
So if at night a monster
Should whisper, "I'll get you,"
Yell: Igga bigga
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
Samuel Exler
JOHNNY DREW A MONSTER
Johnny drew a monster.
The monster chased him.
Just in time
Johnny erased him.
Lilian Moore
TEENY TINY GHOST
A teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most,
lived in a great big house
It's hard to haunt
a great big house
when you're a teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most.
He did what he could do.
So every dark and stormy night
the kind that shakes the house with fright -
if you stood still and listened right,
you'd hear a
teen tiny
Boo!
Lilian Moore
LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs
away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an'
sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her
board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,-
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:-
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' allher blood-an' kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, and' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black things a-standin' by her side,
an' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin' bugs in dew is all squenched away,-
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
'er ' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
James Whitcomb Riley
SEEIN' THINGS
I AIN'T AFEARD UV SNAKES, OR TOADS, OR BUGS, OR WORMS, OR
MICE,
AN' THINGS'AT GIRLS ARE SKEERED UV I THINK ARE AWFUL NICE!
I'M PRETTY BRAVE, I GUESS; AN' YET I HATE TO GO TO BED,
FOR, WHEN I'M TUCKED UP WARM AN' SNUG AN' WHEN MY
PRAYERS ARE SAID,
MOTHER TELLS ME "HAPPY DREAMS!" AN' TAKES AWAY THE LIGHT
AN' LEAVES ME LYIN' ALL ALONE AN' SEEING' THINGS AT
NIGHT!
SOMETIMES THEY'RE IN THE CORNER, SOMETIMES THEY'RE BY THE
DOOR,
SOMETIMES THEY'RE ALL A-STANDIN' IN THE MIDDLE UV THE FLOOR;
SOMETIMES THEY ARE A-SITTING DOWN, SOMETIMES THEY'RE WALKING
ROUND
SO SOFTLY AND SO CREEPYLIKE THEY NEVER MAKE A SOUND!
SOMETIMES THEY ARE AS BLACK AS INK, AN' OTHER TIMES THEY'RE WHITE----
BUT THE COLOR AIN'T NO DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU SEE THINGS AT
NIGHT!
ONCE, WHEN I LICKED A FELLER 'AT HAD JUST MOVED ON OUR STREET,
AN' FATHER SENT ME UP TO BED WITHOUT A BITE TO EAT;
I WOKE UP IN THE DARK AN' SAW THINGS STANDIN' IN A ROW,
A-LOOKING' AT ME CROSS-EYED AN' P'INTIN' AT ME---SO!
OH MY! I WUZ SO SKEERED THAT TIME I NEVER SLEPT A MITE--
IT'S ALMOST ALLUZ WHEN I'M BAD I SEE THINGS AT NIGHT!
AN'SO, WHEN OTHER NAUGHTY BOYS WOULD COAX ME INTO SIN,
I TRY TO SKWUSH THE TEMPTER'S VOICE 'AT URGES ME WITHIN:
AN' WHEN THEY'S PIE FOR SUPPER, OR CAKES 'AT'S BIG AN' NICE,
I WANT TO---BUT I DO NOT PASS MY PLATE F'R THEM THINGS
TWICE!
NO, RUTHER LET STARVATION WIPE ME SLOWLY OUT OF O' SIGHT
THAN I SHOULD KEEP A-LIVIN' ON AN' SEEIN' THINGS AT NIGHT!
EUGENE FIELD (1850-1895)
Home/
Famous Poets & Poems/
Poetry about Nature & Gardening/
Background Set courtesy of:
Animations courtesy of:
AN INVITATION
Let's be spooky. Lets have fun!
We'll scare ourseves before we're done
with ghosts and goblins - winds that howl -
Things that fly and things that prowl.
We'll talk about such creepy stuff
until we both get scared enough
to hear things that we cannot see
and see things that just cannot be.
Let's be spooky - you and me.
Bobbi Katz
AUTUMN GHOST SOUNDS
When the moon
rides high,
up overhead -
and I am snug
and warm,
in bed -
in the autumn dark
the ghosts move 'round
making their
mournful,
moaning sound.
I listen to know
when the ghosts
go by.
I hear a wail,
and I hear a sigh.
But I can't quite tell
which I hear
the most -
the wind,
or the wail
of some passing ghost.
Anonymous
GHOST BUS
Underneath the lamppost,
In the middle of the night,
A ghost bus make a silent stop,
A strange and fearful sight.
At the bus top at your corner,
Something big and green climbed down.
It's looking for your bedroom,
And it has searched all over town.
You thought it couldn't find you,
That you were safe and you were sound.
You thought that you could hide,
Where you never could be found.
But now it's almost here,
You know it loves the dark of night.
There's only one thing you can do,
Quick! Turn on the light!
Whew!
Joe Wayman
A MAGIC CHANT
If in the dark you're frightened,
Here's all you have to do.
Say: Igga bigga,
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
These words give you protection
From ghosts - and witches, too.
Say: Igga bigga
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
So if at night a monster
Should whisper, "I'll get you,"
Yell: Igga bigga
Hunka bunka,
Dinka danka doo.
Samuel Exler
JOHNNY DREW A MONSTER
Johnny drew a monster.
The monster chased him.
Just in time
Johnny erased him.
Lilian Moore
TEENY TINY GHOST
A teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most,
lived in a great big house
It's hard to haunt
a great big house
when you're a teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most.
He did what he could do.
So every dark and stormy night
the kind that shakes the house with fright -
if you stood still and listened right,
you'd hear a
teen tiny
Boo!
Lilian Moore
LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE
Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs
away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an'
sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her
board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,-
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:-
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' allher blood-an' kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, and' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black things a-standin' by her side,
an' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin' bugs in dew is all squenched away,-
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
'er ' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!
James Whitcomb Riley
SEEIN' THINGS
I AIN'T AFEARD UV SNAKES, OR TOADS, OR BUGS, OR WORMS, OR
MICE,
AN' THINGS'AT GIRLS ARE SKEERED UV I THINK ARE AWFUL NICE!
I'M PRETTY BRAVE, I GUESS; AN' YET I HATE TO GO TO BED,
FOR, WHEN I'M TUCKED UP WARM AN' SNUG AN' WHEN MY
PRAYERS ARE SAID,
MOTHER TELLS ME "HAPPY DREAMS!" AN' TAKES AWAY THE LIGHT
AN' LEAVES ME LYIN' ALL ALONE AN' SEEING' THINGS AT
NIGHT!
SOMETIMES THEY'RE IN THE CORNER, SOMETIMES THEY'RE BY THE
DOOR,
SOMETIMES THEY'RE ALL A-STANDIN' IN THE MIDDLE UV THE FLOOR;
SOMETIMES THEY ARE A-SITTING DOWN, SOMETIMES THEY'RE WALKING
ROUND
SO SOFTLY AND SO CREEPYLIKE THEY NEVER MAKE A SOUND!
SOMETIMES THEY ARE AS BLACK AS INK, AN' OTHER TIMES THEY'RE WHITE----
BUT THE COLOR AIN'T NO DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU SEE THINGS AT
NIGHT!
ONCE, WHEN I LICKED A FELLER 'AT HAD JUST MOVED ON OUR STREET,
AN' FATHER SENT ME UP TO BED WITHOUT A BITE TO EAT;
I WOKE UP IN THE DARK AN' SAW THINGS STANDIN' IN A ROW,
A-LOOKING' AT ME CROSS-EYED AN' P'INTIN' AT ME---SO!
OH MY! I WUZ SO SKEERED THAT TIME I NEVER SLEPT A MITE--
IT'S ALMOST ALLUZ WHEN I'M BAD I SEE THINGS AT NIGHT!
AN'SO, WHEN OTHER NAUGHTY BOYS WOULD COAX ME INTO SIN,
I TRY TO SKWUSH THE TEMPTER'S VOICE 'AT URGES ME WITHIN:
AN' WHEN THEY'S PIE FOR SUPPER, OR CAKES 'AT'S BIG AN' NICE,
I WANT TO---BUT I DO NOT PASS MY PLATE F'R THEM THINGS
TWICE!
NO, RUTHER LET STARVATION WIPE ME SLOWLY OUT OF O' SIGHT
THAN I SHOULD KEEP A-LIVIN' ON AN' SEEIN' THINGS AT NIGHT!
EUGENE FIELD (1850-1895)
Home/
Famous Poets & Poems/
Poetry about Nature & Gardening/
Background Set courtesy of:
Animations courtesy of:
A teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most,
lived in a great big house
It's hard to haunt
a great big house
when you're a teeny, tiny ghost
no bigger than a mouse
at most.
He did what he could do.
So every dark and stormy night
the kind that shakes the house with fright -
if you stood still and listened right,
you'd hear a
teen tiny
Boo!
Lilian Moore