Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems

"A Quiet Life" by Baron Wormser

What a person desires in life
is a properly boiled egg.
This isn’t as easy as it seems.
There must be gas and a stove,
the gas requires pipelines, mastodon drills,
banks that dispense the lozenge of capital.
There must be a pot, the product of mines
and furnaces and factories,
of dim early mornings and night-owl shifts,
of women in kerchiefs and men with
sweat-soaked hair.
Then water, the stuff of clouds and skies
and God knows what causes it to happen.
There seems always too much or too little
of it and more pipelines, meters, pumping
stations, towers, tanks.
And salt — a miracle of the first order,
the ace in any argument for God.
Only God could have imagined from
nothingness the pang of salt.
Political peace too. It should be quiet
when one eats an egg. No political hoodlums
knocking down doors, no lieutenants who are
ticked off at their scheming girlfriends and
take it out on you, no dictators
posing as tribunes.
It should be quiet, so quiet you can hear
the chicken, a creature usually mocked as a type
of fool, a cluck chained to the chore of her body.
Listen, she is there, pecking at a bit of grain
that came from nowhere.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.

II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
   Someone had blundered.
   Theirs not to make reply,
   Theirs not to reason why,
   Theirs but to do and die.
   Into the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.

III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
   Rode the six hundred.

IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
   All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
   Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
   Not the six hundred.

V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
   Left of six hundred.

VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
   All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
   Noble six hundred!

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"Halfway Down" by A. A. Milne

Halfway down the stairs
Is a stair
Where I sit.
There isn't any
Other stair
Quite like
It.
I'm not at the bottom,
I'm not at the top;
So this is the stair
Where
I always
Stop.

Halfway up the stairs
Isn't up
And isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery,
It isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really
Anywhere!
It's somewhere else
Instead!

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley 

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

Want more podcast fun for kids and families? Let me tell you about The Wonder World Podcast from Pam Barnhill and her daughter Olivia. Each Monday you’ll learn about little known celebrations, this day in history, a weekly vocabulary word, poems, stories, and so much more. Find The Wonder World Podcast in your podcast app, or ⁠⁠click here.

"The Rainbow" by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Boats sail on the rivers,
  And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
  Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,
  As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
  And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
  Is prettier far than these.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"A Tragic Story" by William Makepeace Thackeray

There lived a sage in days of yore,
And he a handsome pigtail wore;
But wondered much and sorrowed more,
Because it hung behind him.

He mused upon this curious case,
And swore he'd change the pigtail's place,
And have it hanging at his face,
Not dangling there behind him.

Says he, "The mystery I've found -
Says he, "The mystery I've found!
I'll turn me round," - he turned him round;
But still it hung behind him.

Then round and round, and out and in,
All day the puzzled sage did spin;
In vain - it mattered not a pin -
The pigtail hung behind him.

And right and left and round about,
And up and down and in and out
He turned; but still the pigtail stout
Hung steadily behind him.

And though his efforts never slack,
And though he twist and twirl, and tack,
Alas!  Still faithful to his back,
The pigtail hangs behind him.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

"Blow, Bugle, Blow" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson  

The splendour falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes,
And the wild cataract leaps in glory.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O hark, O hear! how thin and clear,
And thinner, clearer, farther going!
O sweet and far from cliff and scar
The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying:
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky,
They faint on hill or field or river:
Our echoes roll from soul to soul,
And grow for ever and for ever.
Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,
And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

Hi, I’m Grace, and this is the Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Poems Podcast. It’s a poetry podcast by a kid, for kids. Are you ready for today’s Pickled Poem?

Email [email protected] and let me know what you thought about today's episode. I’d love to hear YOUR favorite poem, too, so make sure to include that in the email and it might show up in a future episode. Make sure your parents have subscribed to this podcast, and ask them to leave a rating and review so more kids and families can enjoy pickled poems. 

Oh, and I should mention that this podcast is sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology podcast⁠⁠⁠, which is hosted by my Mom. So if you have a parent listening, they should probably check that one out, too. 

Now go pick a peck of pickled poems! I’ll see you next week!

Have you ever considered learning science through the lens of nature study? You can do just that while listening to the ⁠No Sweat Nature Study Podcast⁠! Mrs. Cindy's episodes for kids are full of exciting information about some of the coolest plants, animals, weather phenomena, and other amazing things found in nature. You won't want to miss this twice-monthly podcast!

⁠⁠⁠https://www.humilityanddoxology.com/pickledpoemspodcast⁠⁠

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