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Come here kids and listen
We're gonna play a game
It's just like tag, a little
And Covid is it's name

The whole wide world is playing
It's a simple game to play
Everyone has cooties
The idea is stay away

The game has no time limit
It may last a month or more
You can win it if you listen
That's what this poem is for

You don't want the cooties
You don't want to be it
The idea is keep your distance
This game may take a bit

One way to block the cooties
From getting in your space
Wash your hands like we do
And do not touch your face

You don't know who has cooties
Who is it and who is not
So, stay close like we tell you
And then you won't get caught

This game is really something
I'll tell you when it's done
Just follow my instructions
And we'll keep on having fun

So, one, two, three...we're playing
Don't let the cooties in your space
Wash your hands like I do
And do not touch your face
how to explain the Covid-19 to little kids without scaring them
Mark Toney  Oct 2019
Nasty Panda
Mark Toney Oct 2019
China charges 1 million annually
For each panda in our zoos
If we won't pay in full
Then the pandas we will lose
Nasty Panda's the exception
No one wants him here or there
He was paid 1 million dollars
To abscond and disappear!

Here comes the Nasty Panda
     ~He's much more than you can bear
He's such a nasty panda
     ~He leaves cooties everywhere
Beware of Nasty Panda
     ~He do anything he please
Stay clear of Nasty Panda
     ~He eats shoots and leaves

I smelled him 'fore I seen 'em
That black and white pariah
Slippin' slidin' in my kitchen
On smooshy mushy pulp papaya
I yelled for him to stop
And I told him where to go
Wink and laugh was all he did
With a Homer Simpson "D'oh!"

Here comes the Nasty Panda
     ~He's much more than you can bear
He's such a nasty panda
     ~He leaves cooties everywhere
Beware of Nasty Panda
     ~He do anything he please
Stay clear of Nasty Panda
     ~He eats shoots and leaves

He hasn't bathed in ages
Masked by quarts of cheap cologne
His furry skin sweat-sticky
From the surface to the bone
Smelly cigar and ***** breath
Plus an air of upper-crust
Please keep your kids away
Cuz that nasty bear can cuss!

Here comes the Nasty Panda
     ~He's much more than you can bear
He's such a nasty panda
     ~He leaves cooties everywhere
Beware of Nasty Panda
     ~He do anything he please
Stay clear of Nasty Panda
     ~He eats shoots and leaves

If you meet up with Nasty Panda
Better turn around and run
You're bound to lose your money
And your wits before he's done
Don't shed tears for Nasty Panda
Cuz he likes the way things are
Don't forget to hide your keys
Else he'll drive off in your car!

Here comes the Nasty Panda
     ~He's much more than you can bear
He's such a nasty panda
     ~He leaves cooties everywhere
Beware of Nasty Panda
     ~He do anything he please
Stay clear of Nasty Panda
     ~He eats shoots and leaves

Here comes the Nasty Panda
     ~He's a scoundrel and a ***
He's such a nasty panda
     ~He's as nasty as they come
Beware of Nasty Panda
     ~He's gonna raise a stink
Stay clear of Nasty Panda
     ~He's much nastier than you think
4/27/2019 - Poetry form: Light Verse - This is what I refer to as a flight of fancy.  Only this panda is nasty. The other pandas are cute :) - Copyright © Mark Toney | Year Posted 2019
s  Oct 2016
willow tree
s Oct 2016
We used to swing under the big willow tree
We lived 3 doors down from each other
We were princesses who fought dragons
We could save the kingdom and find our prince by lunch time
Our moms laughed and talked about how cute we were
Four years old was a cute age

Fast forward a bit
We went into elementary school innocent and young
Boys had cooties
Girls had cooties
Kickball always ended with someone getting hit in the face
We would always sit out field and pick grass and shape it into a little birds nest
Life was good
Until your parents started fighting and I mean really fighting.
It scared me and I would have to go home
I would make you come with me
three doors down
Our moms didn’t laugh anymore
By Christmas break your parents were broken up and divorced
Eight years old was a confusing age

Junior high was mean.
Girls would rip you to shreds and then hang pieces of you on everyone’s lockers
Boys just wanted to make out
A whirlwind of uncontrolled hormones
We were the quiet ones
Always flew under the radar
Just trying to make it out alive
We found a little spot to eat lunch under the stairs where no one would go
We giggled and talked about boys who didn’t even know that we existed
I remember crying in the bathroom with you because people were brutal and we weren’t good enough
Our moms worried about us and how distant we were becoming
Thirteen years old was a sad age

Highschool is another story
You were put in the hospital for a month
I was left at school alone
I had to find more friends
I found most of them were fake
So I ate my lunch in a bathroom stall
Reading all the swear words that were carved in the wall
You were really sick and we grew apart
We were always close
We will always love each other
You tried to save me from myself
But I didn’t let you
Seventeen was an important age

Now we are at different colleges
I tried to **** myself while you were getting an A on your anatomy test
It’s sad
We don’t swing under the big willow tree or fight dragons anymore
Our moms hardly talk
You are a success
and I am a failure
We don’t really mesh
I miss you every day
I’m sorry I can’t be good enough for you
We were princesses who lived three doors down, we saved the kingdom.
I love you
I’m sorry this has faded
Just like everything else
Nineteen years old is a dying age.
Really just a story
Chloe  Nov 2014
Catching Cooties
Chloe Nov 2014
Something isn’t right.
Perhaps I’m a little screwy.
I thought the fear of cooties
existed only within childhood realms.
It’s come back to me in my twenties however.
In grown up terms I think it’d
be referred to as a fear of intimacy.
In psychological terms PTSD.
It snags against the chip on my shoulder
catching and consuming my heart.
I’m afraid of cooties.
Yeah, let’s say that’s the problem.
“****” is such an ugly word after all.
I am a survivor of ****. Stay strong ladies.
Jonny Angel Jan 2014
When I was younger,
I hated cooties,
didn't want any.

Now I'm a bit older,
not afraid of intimacy
& a bit more wiser.

And I want all the cooties
she can dish out.
Red-Writing-Hood Oct 2012
Lollipops to cigarettes
Cooties turned to pregnancy
The cute little girls and boys we once knew at recess are no more, some are drop outs, some are on the news for ****** and others have seemed to disappear from existence
How did this happen?
How did the life we knew so well as children, filled with jump rope and four square, turn into the monstrosity of modern society
The drama now is about boys, drugs, and flunking school, the only so called 'drama' back then was when someone else had the blue crayon you needed to finish your color by number
Computers, televisions, and phones take over the lives of children nowadays, the big pass times when we were kids was to go back in the woods behind our houses and catch salamander, play hide and seek and cops and robbers when it started to get dark
Now?
It's lying to your parents to go out and get drunk, skipping class to go smoke **** and and turning the lollipop in your mouth into a cigarette
Did you ever consider that the lollipop tastes better? That maybe this sticky strawberry mess gives you a better outlook on life?
When you're a kid and you're happy with your crayons and hopscotch you don't care what problems you're faced with: if someones lost; find them, if someone's feelings are hurt; say sorry, if you wanna lose weight; lose it
This lollipop of yours has turned an upside-down world right-side-up again creating brighter perspectives and healthier pass times
So instead of curling our fingers around disgusting cancer sticks and pregnancy tests, maybe we should grab hold of that lollipops taste and lever let go...so the only downfall to life, is cavities.
Zoe Mae  Sep 2021
Cooties
Zoe Mae Sep 2021
Ever closer your cooties approach my fabric, multiplying like maggots.

Can I even muster the courage
to peek under the sheets?

Nope.

Too afraid of what I'll see...
Perhaps a mushroom shaped like me?

Nowadays your dead skin cells are my pillow.

Funny.

You're warmer dead than alive,
and your cooties still thrive.
ashley Mar 2013
you know,
when you're younger,
you think boys are icky.
mean boys that push you
in the sand on the playground,
stupid boys that call
you names
and make fun of you for
being a '*****.'

when you're younger,
you think girls have cooties.
silly girls that play
on the swings
and talk about
the wind,
girls you try to avoid
at all costs.

but once you grow up
and stop being so small,
you come to realize that
boys are far from icky,
except for the fact
that they still pick their
noses and chew
with their mouths full;
and girls are far
from having cooties,
unless you consider
STD's as cooties, these days.

now,
girls and boys
are attracted to each other
by an unmistaken force,
one that's so strong
it feels like a magnet
is conjoining the both
of you.

or at least,
that's what they claim.

but really,
our generation is
obsessed with the
facination
of being rebellious,
of not caring about the rules,
or doing what they want
whenever they want.
we're obsessed with
the motto that
having *** at 16,
getting drunk at parties,
and doing drugs
is okay.

the problem?
we'll never know.
everyone will always
have different thoughts,
views, opinions
on how our generation
came to be as
disasterous as it is:
the media: music videos,
movies; the music,
what kinds of messages
rappers are conveying
in their songs;
but no matter
what we think
or what we say,
we'll never know.

we're the kids
your parents
warned you about --
or rather, didn't.

nowadays,
losing your virginity
is becoming something
of a contest to see
who can lose it first,
who can get this girl
laid, who can
sleep with the most
girls in their entire school.
today, girls are willing
to lose it, all because they're
under pressure, or being
influenced by the wrong
crowd.

nowadays,
going to ravid parties
and having
'a few drinks'
is something to celebrate.
"come on, have a drink,"
and even if they don't want one,
even if they don't want
to accept,
they somehow get convinced
otherwised.
then 'just a few drinks'
turns into a rollercoaster
that gets you spiraling
out of the earth's
gravitational control.
your mind goes haywire
and you might even do
something you never imagined
you'd do. all because of
'a few drinks.'

nowadays,
rolling a blunt
and smoking ****
is something
everyone does;
if you don't smoke,
if you aren't a stoner,
then you're considered
'abnormal,' or 'odd,'
or even 'weird.'
roll a blunt,
pass it around,
take a hit
or two
or three,
until it feels like your
soul is being detached
from your body,
floating into the
horizon,
being swallowed by
darkness,
vanishing into the
atmosphere.

nowadays,
everyone's
trying to **** themselves
from the harsh words
being thrown at them
like daggers to the heart.
everyone's
cutting themselves,
a temporary way
to solve a problem
that seems
incapable of living through.



nowadays,
no one has any respect
for themselves.
no one cares
if they don't get into
a decent college;
most don't even go.
no one cares
if alcohol is
causing them to become
addicts;
they disregard the signs
completely.
no one cares
if smoking ****
or doing drugs
is illegal;
now, they'll
expose it in the open.
no one cares
how their words
can affect people;
"fat," "ugly.'
they'll call people
***** that are still
virgins.

nowadays,
our generation
has turned into
something to be avoided,
an example of how bad
the world can become.


a.m.
Laura Mankowski Apr 2014
Chivalry is dead
This I was taught at age eight
While sitting at my poorly organized desk in the third grade
Still believing cooties were being bred in the boys around me
The death of chivalry was not hard to fathom
Chivalry is dead
When we were young
Listening to the stories of old maids
Recounting tales of bitter divorce
In between addition problems
Making sure no one saw us counting on our fingers
Chivalry is dead
We thought
But what was it anyway?
Amy Irby  Jul 2012
Summer Homes
Amy Irby Jul 2012
island summer heat
big backyards
shared by three families
with rambunctious kids
sundresses, sandals, swim trunks
a big mango tree and
a merry-go-round with red chipped paint
geckos and mud baths
"boy's got cooties!"
  
mid-west plains' dry, summer heat
Mr. Sun is our lamp well past 9:00pm
Dow St., a giant hill covered
in uniform houses, filled with the uniformed sacrificial
spinning wheels, acre-wide hide and seek
nintendo and donkey kong, fireflies in jars
front yard mulberry trees
pippy longstocking "lets' go into this 'cave' of vines"
poison-ivy
  
southern peninsula, humid, summer heat
above ground pools and trampolines
a red brick house; the first home
the first CD collection, Filipino food
THE PARK,
the sandbox lid drowning in the bayou
sleeping in guest rooms, sleepovers a sign of status
pelicans, ducks, fishing,
sleeping in the boat; camping on the beach
Being a Navy brat, my childhood was spread out over the world. The first stanza was during our time in Guam, the second Nebraska and the third Florida.
Bob  Aug 2018
The Big C
Bob Aug 2018
First day of first grade
Learning my a ,b, c's
But still had velcro shoes
Knew my colors and numbers
So I was a know it all
Untill that bell rung
Found out something that changed everything
Tommy told Timmy and he whispered it to me
I never been so scared
It was the worst ever
Before mom could stop and aginest the teachers ordes
I was at her car door
MOM I GOT THE COOTIES
I GOT COOTIES
Being over dramatic she says
No not the big C son
It's the cooties mom
Pulled into the driveway and she leans to me
Cooties ain't real and girls are not a disease
It's ok to be friends with everybody
But just incase I'll give you a cootie shot
Circle circle dot dot....

First day of sixth grade
New clothes, new shoes
I felt grown and so cool
Laughing with friends at lunch when I hear
Can I sit here
I turned mute so I just noded my head
This girl was god sent
Tongue tied and in love
Feeling nervous and starting to sweat
She talked and I tried
She asked questions
All I could do was smile
Didn't notice my mom waiting holding up the line
Gave one word answers to her hundred questions
Pulled into the driveway
MOM I HAVE A CRUSH ON A GIRL
She gasped
No not another case of the big c
Looking back it was funny but I was to nervous to laugh
Explained how I thought she was to pretty for me
Out of my league
Pulled in the he driveway And she leans over
Nobody will ever be to much of a good thing for you
Show the confidence that you hold in
Besides what's the worst that can happen
You make a cute friend
But just incase your still uncertain
Make sure tomorrow the seat next to you is empty again

Freshman year
Can't believe first day of high school
Beginning of my last four years
Spent the summer trying out for the baseball team
Basketball second period
Coach Sims told me good chance I would make the varisty team
My head grew bigger and my walk changed too
Seen April and I walked right up
Asked her to homecoming
My God she said yes
The greatest day ever
Seen mom in line
Couldn't wait so I ran
Begin explaining everything
Making the team, the dance, basketball
Not taking a breath till we got home
Pulls in the driveway and I'm halfway out when I noticed
She only responded with a smile
I turned back and see tears in her eyes
I lean over and wrap my arms around her
Mom don't start lying to me now
Tell me what's wrong
What she said next was the hardest words had ever hit me......
Son I have the big C

— The End —