I learned to rhyme before I could tie my shoes.

 

Big A

Little a

What begins with A?

Aunt Annie’s alligator

A...a...A

 

The first book I read was Green Eggs and Ham.

You start ignorant, simply seeing scribbles on a page

Unknowing of the wonderous, wonderous world that you are about to dive headfirst into.

 

Big B

Little b

What begins with B?

Barber baby bubbles and a bumblebee

 

You stumble.

Testing each syllable because

Do͞o yo͞o līk ɡrēn eɡs and ham?

Is the most important question you have ever been asked.

 

Your eyes adjust, no longer squinting in confusion

The moon has retreated,

The lamp has been switched on,

The tornado has plucked you out of Kansas and delivered you safely to Oz.

 

And then you start to see.

For the first time you aren’t looking at the fantastic creatures that tumble around the book

You are stuck in

b l a c k

a n d

w h i t e

And you love it.

 

But black and white is no longer the cartoons your mother made you watch on saturday mornings

This black and white is all encompassing.

And you love it.

 

Big C

Little c

What begins with C?

Camel on the ceiling

C...c...see?

 

Thing One, Thing Two and Horton Hears a Who

Have taught me so much all my life

That without the assistance of each lovely poem

I wouldn’t know how to read or to write.