When I Visit My Grandparents
Listen to Helen ...
When I visit my grandparents, here’s what I love:
the soft feel of the web of the worn baseball glove,
the whir-whoosh of the wheels on our bicycle ride,
sweet smell of an apple pie baking inside,
fluffy fur, the rough tongue of the calico cat,
tapping sticks on some drums with a rat-a-tat-tat,
funny movies and hot, buttered popcorn for treats,
the cool fort we construct out of cushions and sheets,
reading tales of a fox and a sly snowshoe hare,
cuddling close in the creak-creaky, old rocking chair.
When I visit my grandparents, here’s what I hate:
the sound of the latch as it locks on their gate.
the soft feel of the web of the worn baseball glove,
the whir-whoosh of the wheels on our bicycle ride,
sweet smell of an apple pie baking inside,
fluffy fur, the rough tongue of the calico cat,
tapping sticks on some drums with a rat-a-tat-tat,
funny movies and hot, buttered popcorn for treats,
the cool fort we construct out of cushions and sheets,
reading tales of a fox and a sly snowshoe hare,
cuddling close in the creak-creaky, old rocking chair.
When I visit my grandparents, here’s what I hate:
the sound of the latch as it locks on their gate.
This poem is copyright (©) Helen Kemp Zax 2024
About the Writer
Helen Kemp Zax
Helen Kemp Zax loves to write poetry, especially poems that rhyme. Her debut picture book Little Witch’s To-Do List will be published by Abrams Appleseed in 2025. She is co-winner of the 2021 YorkMix International Children’s Poetry Prize, the 2018 MG Katherine Paterson Prize winner, and a 2019 Finalist. Helen's poetry appears in anthologies like The Sea’s Song and Chasing Clouds and in magazines like The Caterpillar. She lives in Washington, D. C. with her husband and their crazy Aussie-doodle Huckleberry Finn.
