J. Patrick Lewis

“The rat isthe mous-tacheinthetrache.the wrong-doerinthesoer.”

“The Universal Turtle VerseI spend the day nibbling rent-freeUnderneath the Giving Tree.Me, Rirty Dat and Snerry JakeShow Runny Babbit how to makeUp verses. Then I lug my hump(Careful not to bump the Glump)Into the woods to trade a wordWith the argle-bargle bird:Nuthatch wisely recommends,Find out where the sidewalk ends.”

“The Book BoothThere's not a big selection,It's not locked for protection,But at the intersectionOf Booth and Telephone,Two customers politelyCan snuggle in it (tightly)And go once over (lightly)The books they'd like to own."Readcycle" means you leave one -A book you love. Retrieve one...Who knows? You might receive oneYou haven't read before.Hats off to the committeeFor such an itty-bittyLibrary in the city,Which proves that less is more.”

“Spotted Park BenchI am a park bench.Ordinary words cannotexpress my thoughts on birds.”

“The Ladybug wears no disguises.She is just what she advertises.A speckled spectacle of spring,A fashion statement on the wing....A miniature orange kite.A tiny dot-to-dot delight.”

“I won't be sad too often,If they bury me in the libraryWith bookworms in my coffin.”

“Please bury me in the library With a dozen long-stemmed proses”

“LibrariesAreNeccessaryGardens,UnsurpassedAtGrowingExcitement”

“I have always believed that poems beg to be read aloud, even if the reader is in a world all her own.”

“A great book is a homing deviceFor navigating paradise.A good book somehow makes you careAbout the comfort of a chair.A bad book owes to many treesA forest of apologies.”