#toys
A White Balloon
A white balloon
In a blue sky
Blooming at noon,
A white balloon
We call the moon
Goes floating by,
A white balloon
In a blue sky.
Lunch Meat
A gerbil meat sandwich with mustard and pickles
Will tickle your tastebuds with millions of tickles.
Waterford Willis
Waterford Willis wet his bed
Every night, and, God, he stunk!
So did his little brother, Ed,
Who occupied the bottom bunk.
They
They said I was a fool.
They said I must be blind.
They said I should just give up.
They said I lost my mind.
(They being the elves
That visit me at night),
They said I lost my marbles,
And they, by God, were right.
In Garbageland
In Fairyland the flowers speak;
In Neverland they fly;
In Wonderland the flowers dream;
In Garbageland they die.
Nurse Mortelle
There once was a registered nurse
Whose patients got worse, worse, and worse:
She'd give 'em injections
To treat their infections,
Then send 'em away in a hearse.
The Key of B
B major or B minor,
B♮ or B♯ or B♭,
B in a mode or B in a mood,
But don't B a brat!
Bigfoot, Big Trap
Winter, spring, summer, autumn,
I set a trap for Bigfoot and caught 'im!
A White Balloon
A white balloon
Goes floating by.
Across high noon,
A white balloon
We call the moon
In a blue sky,
A white balloon
Goes floating by.
Feb 26
Feb 26, 2026 at 8:46 PM UTC
Number5
1,2,3,4,5!
A zombie's half alive!
6,7,8,9,10!
Play in a werewolf den!
10,9,8,7,6!
Eat a big bowl of ticks!
5,4,3,2,1!
Stare at the noonday sun!
A Doll Named Chucky
My doll's alive,
But mom doesn't know it.
When she's around,
He doesn't show it.
My doll's alive,
And, God, I'm lucky
To have a friend
Who's a doll named Chucky!
Flora ***** Fecalstank
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Corpse flowers stink,
And so does your ****
Robin Redbreast
Robin Redbreast is singing.
Robin Redbreast is winging.
Robin Redbreast just pooped
On the mailman's shoulder.
Robin Redbreast just pooped
In the eye of the beholder.
Affirmation
To be or _not_
To be?
That is the question.
The answer?
To be.
To be _a lot._
Betty
A colorful yeti named Betty,
Whose coat is like rainbow confetti,
On Everest prances,
Runs, gambols, and dances
Until she's exhausted and sweaty.
Feb 6
Feb 6, 2026 at 4:25 AM UTC
"The sand box now is empTy
The toys resT on the shelF
The house is almosT silenT
As I siT here by my selF.
Maybe I Should build a casTLe
Or brush thaT old dolls hair
And painT The rusTed swing seT
To leT them Know I care,
For they helped me raise my
Children
to Face the challenges oF life
Where building, climbing, nurTuring
Will carry. them Through sTrife"
©1987JMF
Nov 16, 2025
Nov 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM UTC
You’ve brought your puppy home at last, so let the fun begin
A lovely little collar and lead you bought for him.
A cosy bed with blanket, a little dish for food
To make him feel at home here, you’ve done everything you could.
For all this I do laud you, and wish you all the joys
But let me give you some advice when purchasing his toys.
Don’t buy him soft filled donkey’s or rabbits filled with foam
For you’ll find out the innards will be strewn around your home.
Don't bring him home those bouncy ***** the ones that bounce so high
The damage they can bring about will surely make you cry.
But worst of all, now please hear this, the one you must resist
The ones that have me going bald that make me clench my fist.
The ones he doesn’t play with until you want to watch TV
Are those ****** rubber squeaky things, they’ll be the death of me.
He’ll bring out all the others and he’ll want to start and play
But you can just ignore this, for he’s not in your way.
But then he’ll get the big guns and bring out noisy Ted
He’ll chew down hard and bite until that squeak goes through your head.
Now once he’s figured out that Ted can send you up the walls
He leave off all of the others, the softies, and the *****
He’ll have you now he’s bettered you, he’s now the dog on top
So heed this little warning, leave that squeaker in the shop.
Sep 21, 2025
Sep 21, 2025 at 6:44 AM UTC
Brand new,
Shiny and promising -
hope met with disappointment.
Collapses on impact.
Dangerous in appearance,
Hollow within. A fraud.
May 25, 2025
May 25, 2025 at 4:16 PM UTC
for the first time
i understood why children cry
and beg for their favourite toys
not to be taken away
because darling
that's exactly how I feel
when i imagine
ever losing you
May 12, 2025
May 12, 2025 at 5:14 AM UTC
My young niece, she used sing in the church choir
But when she grew older she left the choir
She got her nose pierced, became a Vegan and Social Justice warrior
Now it was all about the planet and everything having to be done a certain way ...or else LoL
When she'd come to visit, she used complain
Your house Uncle it's s so cluttered, all these little nick nacks and ornaments you have and all these books
You should get rid of half this stuff, bring it all down to the charity shop
I looked at her and said, said quite mysteriously "My world... my world is not your world"
I picked up an ornament and said "This world has a lot of ugliness in it, these things remind me that there's beauty too '
I pointed at the books up on the shelves
"I can tell you why I bought every one of those books, what they meant to me
I can tell you what I was going through at the time...
And how they helped keep me sane in this... this crazy world"
Then my niece she picked up a book, it was a children's book with pictures in it
You probably won't need this one she said, it's only a kid's book
I looked at her in horror, then suddenly said real dramatic like
"Stop! Don't move!! Stay very very still!"
What's wrong ! she said a bit concerned
"That book you're holding, it's... it's God !!"
What!! she said
"There's a picture of God in that book...or the God experience, the spiritual thing
That's why I bought it"
She looked a bit lost, even afraid
I smiled at her bewilderment and continued
When I was younger I used suffer from anxiety and from ideas that made no sense to me...I was plagued
I got interested in meditation and self hypnosis various relaxation techniques
Quietening the mind, that sort of thing
I managed to train my mind to stay quiet for very long periods
It's a very hard thing to do but it is possible
One night I went to bed, I was lying there with my eyes closed when suddenly this strange feeling came over me
It was like something was happening, happening in my head, it was like there was suddenly something coming down upon me
And then... then I seen it even though my eyes they were closed
I seen...something I hadn't seen since I was a little child, an infant in my cot some thirty years before
I was...I was astonished
And I remembered... I could still remember
There were several stages in it and you'd pass from one stage into the next
I got so excited
I thought to myself "I remember this! I remember this!!!
I used to get this when I was very young"
I was so excited I only managed to get through several of the stages before I opened my eyes I pulled out of it because I was just blown away by the whole experience...at seeing it again (after all those years)
I lay there amazed at what I'd just seen"
Here I stopped and looked away rather sadly into the distance
"Unfortunately though around that time I'd also recently bought a book on Positive thinking, a bestseller, one that was very highly regarded
For some reason I can't think of now I chose to go with the Positive thinking book
Rather than to continue with my quiet mind meditation thing
Yea, I chose something from the world rather than that which I'd found within my own self...something that was wholly mine
It's something... something I've always regretted ... not continuing with my quiet mind meditation
One day a few years later I was in a bookshop browsing
I was looking in the bargain bin
And I seen that book, I was looking at the pictures
And there was this one picture that fascinated me
It reminded me of my experience that night
I had to buy it because of that".
I looked at my niece and said
"In that book there's pictures, look through the pictures, take your time
Pick out the picture which you find the most interesting, the most fascinating ...the one that seems to speak to you the most
When you've made your choice, close the book and give it back to me
But don't tell me which picture you've chosen
Then I'll open the book and I'll show you yes!, I'll show you the picture you've chosen ".
My niece said "OK" as if it were a challenge, she went away with the book, about half an hour later she came up to me
I asked her "Was there a picture that...that spoke to you, that you...you liked"
"There was...there was one yea, one that was very strange ", she answered
She handed the book back to me
I opened it and turned to the page which reminded me of my meditative experience
I turned the book around and pointing at the picture said "This is the picture you chose, isn't it"
My niece she smiled looking very surprised, as if it were some kind of trick "How did you know...how did you know I'd pick that picture"
I replied "You're young, maybe you too still have a remembrance hidden somewhere...a memory...of that special time....long ago".
Apr 9, 2025
Apr 9, 2025 at 11:56 AM UTC
A flash from the heavens, the Angel arrives
Wondering how, he was dumped, in this dive
The plants are all wrong, stunted and small
intelligence is gone, from yes, one and all
There's gotta be some kinda mistake
natural disaster, a worldwide, earthquake?
the air is something, ya just cannot inhale
something askew, without doubt, without fail
He left it seems, just as fast as he came
no mention of god, or even his name
and so it was, heaven now informed
whole ****** place, is ruined, transformed
So God, he just sighed, and used the autoclaver
to sterilize that petri-dish, not a keeper, or saver
galaxies turn, and stars, worlds are destroyed
when all in all, all of us.....are simply, just toys
Feb 25, 2025
Feb 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM UTC
I babysit the daughter (Ivy) of a doctor at the hospital where I volunteer (to accumulate ‘clinical hours’ for my med-school applications). According to my mom, the purpose of my current existence is to get into med school.
That may sound crazy or theater-mom-ish but she has strong arguments - like Aristotle (all things strive toward full potential), stoicism (there’s a role for all living things) and vitalism (there’s a purpose, in life, beyond survival) - so, who am I to argue?
Straight brag, I’m a certified, Girl Scout Safe-Sitter®. Little Ivy and I will be eye to eye (metaphorically) for three hours today - no phones, TV or Internet - just paints, swings, barbies, a Montessori math game and a new toy called “MyFirst camera” which lets her take pix, and then print them, low-res and smeary, on ultra-thin paper.
I met Ivy when she was 4, now she’s on the edge of 6. She’s got large chestnut brown eyes that match her hair - which is cut in a shoulder length angled-bob. She’s about 3½-feet of cuteness, in her pink ballet-flat shoes. I’d describe her clothes, but she changes about every hour. “What are you wearing now?” I find myself asking the princess or jedi. “Can I help you officer?” I ask the business-like cop in a ballet tutu.
We’re old hats at this babysitting gig.
When Ivy picked up her camera, I asked, “Can I take your picture?” reaching out to take the thing.
“In a minute,” she said, lining me up in the viewfinder. “No,” she said, suddenly turning into a photographer highly critical of my look, “(pose) Like a model,” she directed, before striking, for a brief moment, a perfect, indifferent, hands-on hips pose herself. Kids pick up on everything. I took her direction and struck a pose.
Later, as we painted dragons that looked like flowers, she asked, “Why’s the sky blue?”
When Ivy asks questions, it’s like she’s getting a second opinion or testing to see what I know.
“Blue?” I asked, acting like I was confused. “The sky is GREEN.”
“NNOOO,” she said.
“You’re colorblind!” I exclaimed in alarm, “Does your mom know?!
“The sky is BLUE,” she said, with the seriousness of certainty.
“We’ll see,” I said, like a doubting thomas.
I held up five fingers, “How many colors am I holding up?”
She looked at me, side-eyed for less than a beat, then said “No.”
We had hours of fun.
Later, when her mom came home, she asked “How’s it going guys?” As she set down her purse and keys.
Ivy looked up from her work, gluing a collage of the day's photos to poster board and said, “Ok.”
“We had fun,” I reported, “I’ve been teaching her some comedy things.”
“Like what?” her mom asked, nonplussed.
Ivy eyed me suspiciously.
“Like when she falls, she should wait for the laugh. She can’t just - hop right up.”
Mar 23, 2024
Mar 23, 2024 at 11:31 PM UTC
they want to take my toys away
'cos I won't play the game their way
but they don't understand my vision
see through my eyes of contradiction
the gatekeepers have closed their realm
standing strong for what they believe in
I know they'll never let me pass
they have a hatred that's deep entrenched
I'll carry on regardless though
in my one man delusional show
Jan 1, 2024
Jan 1, 2024 at 10:17 AM UTC
Wrapped under a tree
Bringing children joy and glee
Packages of love
Dec 17, 2021
Dec 17, 2021 at 8:17 PM UTC
Plastic pistols, cowboy hats
action men, palitoy combat
Hotspur, Tiger and Hurricane
leather footballs, broken panes
Matchbox, Corgi, Airfix, Meccano
Stickle Bricks, and (only) red and white Lego
Triang scooters, Raleigh Choppers
Dunlop plimsolls, orange space-hoppers
Down the park’s obstacle course
Witches Hat, iron rocking horse
Bumps and scrapes, grazes and cuts
rub it all better, just-get-back-up
Home before dark, in time for tea
Billy and Ian, my sisters and me
Dec 13, 2021
Dec 13, 2021 at 2:26 PM UTC
wizard and le wand ~~
pruning that black forest
her moist velvet purse
© 2021
Oct 25, 2021
Oct 25, 2021 at 11:01 AM UTC
Can't decide what to play with today.
There are my colouring books and pencils.
I could also find my drawing pad
and use a ruler and some stencils.
I have my Legos and my cars,
and lots of other shiny toys,
but my mum sends me out
to join the other little boys.
It's a beautiful day, she says,
you should be in fresh air,
yet too young for school you are
no need to worry or even care.
I meet Timmy, my friend down the lane.
He shows me his bicycle with considerable pride.
It's new, he says, with bell, brakes and all.
I ask him if I could learn to ride.
Of course, he says, hop on and I'll push.
I follow his instructions - tightly grip the handlebar
and speed away without a plan of further action,
when along comes roaring an enormous motorcar.
Please make it stop, I scream. But Timmy is not there.
So just before the tragic but inevitable demise,
a miracle occurs, I wake up in bed safely,
all grown up and full of surprise.
Jul 5, 2021
Jul 5, 2021 at 3:33 AM UTC
The cursory glance at the gingerbread man,
today’s tenuous character,
only momentarily takes my mind
off the biro circles, patiently drawn
in the catalogue downstairs
since September
Dec 7, 2020
Dec 7, 2020 at 2:30 AM UTC
I saw a pink dinosaur
at a discounted price
in the local mall
I saw another dinosaur
blue and smiling
and a green one looking so friendly
being so soft and fluffy.
These dinos are so majestic.
Why must I suffer their absence?
I want a T-Rex
He will stand guard on my bed
I want the Long Neck
To survey the outside from the windows
I want the Stegosaurus,
To give my smaller toys a ride
The Triceratops will watch my books,
and the Pterodactyl flies with my alicorns.
Let's PLAY!
Sep 14, 2020
Sep 14, 2020 at 12:25 AM UTC
The swing
The spinning top
The doll
Wooden horses
Battledore and shuttlecock
Trumpet and drum
Soap bubbles
**** in the corner
Blind man's buff
Leap-frog
Little husband, little wife
The ball
Please let me return
To my childhood ways
And the happy games
We played
Sep 15, 2020
Sep 15, 2020 at 8:06 AM UTC
Riding
The color
Wheel
From
Liftoff
To splashdown
Onyx
Eyelids
Heavy with rheum
Waking to
Laminated
Stick-ons
A vinyl ocean
Of unco adhesion
And snap vacuum
Jettisoned
Trinkets
Of youth
Soaring
Prophetically
Overhead
Acquiescing
As scenes
Of upended worlds
The simple playgrounds
Both remembered
And loved
Sep 3, 2020
Sep 3, 2020 at 10:56 AM UTC
Hunter was happy
The rain was now done
He could go out in the yard
And have some real fun
Staying inside
when there was so much to do
He had to go hunting
For his alphabet zoo
Hunter like letters
And numbers and things
He also likes dreaming
and the joy that it brings
He pulled out his toy box
And he dragged it outside
I'm going to go hunting
He put his hat on with pride
An old hunting helmet
And one wellington boot
A runner, his jacket
And a toy gun to shoot
I'm off to go hunting
I'll will fill a whole zoo
Just call me for dinner
And with that...he was through
A boy's mind is special
They can imagine the world
Is a magical jungle
That to them is unfurled
A zoo from a toy box
All in order....you'll see
He would fill up his zoo
From A back to Z
First came an aardvark
Then a ****** all stuffed
Then a cheetah, a donkey
All cuddly and puffed
E made him think
Yep...an earwig or two
It fit with the letters
And it would go in his zoo
F was a frog,
Made of rubber and green
G ...a gorilla
With a smile, not mean
H was a horse
with a cowboy as well
The zoo, it was growing
And to him, that was swell
I....had him thinking
It's my zoo after all
So, if I can't get a letter
It won't matter at all
J was a jacks game
Not an animal too
But, the jacks looked like spiders
And this was Hunters zoo
K...that was easy
A Kangaroo with a pouch
L was a llama
With three legs and a slouch
M was a monkey
A whole barrel he had
He played with these some
He wasn't doing half bad
In all of an hour
He had collected a herd
Of stuffed toys, ***** and jacks
And he still had no bird
N was a nerf ball
Or a dinosaur egg
It could be what he wanted
He'd now found that fourth leg
The llama assembled
O was easy for him
An octopus floaty
That taught him to swim
P was a parrot
With feathers all red
Q...that's a tough one
He thought to himself in his head
R was a rhino
With no horn, it was broke
S was a snake
His dad bought as a joke
T was a tough one
A terra-dac-til said he
Not knowing the spelling
And that it started with P
U ...under water
so he found a stuffed fish
This was not all that easy
V...well tosh tish
I'll catch two of another
If I can't think of one
Hunting out in the yard
Is really quite fun
W...a walrus
with a moustache and tusks
Like the gorilla before
made of coconut husks
X...was a tough one
Another dinosaur came
Made from his xylophone
And this dino was tame
Y was a yak
He didn't know what it was
But, he just liked the name
So, a yak ....just because
Z was a zebra
blue and black with no white
He'd colored it in with a marker
When he got bored one night
He'd been out for a while
When he heard his mum yell
Time to come in
Bring your toy box as well
All through his dinner
He told of what he had caught
Of the alphabetic adventures
And the creatures he'd got
He watched tv for a while
Then it was bath time and bed
Where Hunter the hunter
Now had a full head
Now, he was dreaming
Of all he must do
This was Hunter the hunter
And his alphabet zoo
Aug 30, 2020
Aug 30, 2020 at 6:30 PM UTC
Someone took away his toy
the one left at the bottom of the pile
unattended
Jul 1, 2020
Jul 1, 2020 at 7:45 AM UTC
There's a roaring applause from the porcelain dolls
The performance was flawless they say
Just a single retort, from an old rocking horse who said
"too back and forth for my taste"
But the tragedy stands that the raggedy Ann
it was written for didn't attend
Did this marionette fall to pieces? You bet.
But in ways that scotch tape cannot mend.
Now I'll start a new score marbles strewn on the floor
at my core a toy soldier I'd be
With an etch a sketch shake I'd create a blank slate
Make a solo that's soley for me.
Even toys know that life is no story book
and that some Lego bricks just won't latch
Now this puppet will only write choir songs
he promised her "no strings attached"
May 10, 2020
May 10, 2020 at 5:46 PM UTC
Playmates
by Michael R. Burch
WHEN you were my playmate and I was yours,
we spent endless hours with simple toys,
and the sorrows and cares of our indentured days
were uncomprehended . . . far, far away . . .
for the temptations and trials we had yet to face
were lost in the shadows of an unventured maze.
Then simple pleasures were easy to find
and if they cost us a little, we didn't mind;
for even a penny in a pocket back then
was one penny too many, a penny to spend.
Then feelings were feelings and love was just love,
not a strange, complex mystery to be understood;
while "sin" and "damnation" meant little to us,
since forbidden cookies were our only lusts!
Then we never worried about what we had,
and we were both sure—what was good, what was bad.
And we sometimes quarreled, but we didn't hate;
we seldom gave thought to the uncertainties of fate.
Hell, we seldom thought about the next day,
when tomorrow seemed hidden—adventures away.
Though sometimes we dreamed of adventures past,
and wondered, at times, why things couldn't last.
Still, we never worried about getting by,
and we didn't know that we were to die . . .
when we spent endless hours with simple toys,
and I was your playmate, and we were boys.
This is probably the poem that "made" me, because my high school English teacher called it "beautiful" and I took that to mean I was surely the Second Coming of Percy Bysshe Shelley! "Playmates" is the second poem I remember writing; I believe I was around 13 or 14 at the time. It was originally published by The Lyric. Keywords/Tags: playmates, boys, children, schoolmates, schoolboys, friendship, toys, playthings, fate, destiny, adventures, death, mortality
Mar 25, 2020
Mar 25, 2020 at 4:31 AM UTC