Double Dutch
I watch my friend,
she skips and hops,
knees and elbows,
pops and drops.
She seems to fly,
she floats, she twirls.
She jumps so high,
with bouncing curls.
I want to be
so light, breezy—
she makes it look
so smooth, so easy.
I count,
I wait,
I watch,
I learn.
She’ll cheer me on
when it’s my turn!
she skips and hops,
knees and elbows,
pops and drops.
She seems to fly,
she floats, she twirls.
She jumps so high,
with bouncing curls.
I want to be
so light, breezy—
she makes it look
so smooth, so easy.
I count,
I wait,
I watch,
I learn.
She’ll cheer me on
when it’s my turn!
This poem is copyright (©) Mary E Cronin 2026
About the Writer
Mary E Cronin
Mary E. Cronin lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Her books include Trucks, Boots, and Bells, a poetry collection set in a busy city firehouse, and Like a Mother Bear, a picture book biography of PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford. Mary’s poems have appeared in numerous children’s anthologies and in The New York Times. You can reach her at www.maryecronin.com.
