Poems (Van Rensselaer)/Tommy's Playmates
TOMMY'S PLAYMATES
I do not need to dream at night,
I can so easily,
"Pretending" in the broad daylight,
Be things that are not Me.
I can so easily,
"Pretending" in the broad daylight,
Be things that are not Me.
Sometimes I am a polar bear
Out hunting on the ice,
With two young cubs the food to share,
And they are my white mice.
Out hunting on the ice,
With two young cubs the food to share,
And they are my white mice.
Sometimes I am a pirate wild,
With more than eighteen men
Till all but two are shot and killed—
Those are the mice again.
With more than eighteen men
Till all but two are shot and killed—
Those are the mice again.
When mother laughs but won't allow
The mice in bed, I'd laugh
Except that I must be a cow
And bellow for my calf.
The mice in bed, I'd laugh
Except that I must be a cow
And bellow for my calf.
I was an angel yesterday,
The kind that flies and sings,
And so the mice were sure that they
Had pairs of little wings.
The kind that flies and sings,
And so the mice were sure that they
Had pairs of little wings.
They are not yet as wise as I
To make-believe and play,
But till I showed them how to try
They were just mice all day.
To make-believe and play,
But till I showed them how to try
They were just mice all day.
For Betty Foster,
1910.
1910.