The Poet’s Corner
Tom
For Tom Sigman, who loved the stars, cats, and the dictionary!
Once there was a boy named Tom. Tom liked to look things up in books. He looked things up about stars in the night sky, and cats, and chemistry and other things that interested him.
All his life, Tom kept looking things up in books. When he retired, he had lots of time to look things up and this pleased him very much.
Tom lived in Berkeley, California, right downtown so he could walk everywhere. He lived in a cottage behind another house. His cottage had once been a garage, so it was not very big. It had a front porch that was great for fresh air and also a good place to sleep in the big overstuffed chair beside the front door.
Most of the time during the day, Tom’s cats slept in the chair on the front porch. At night, except in the coldest, rainiest weather, both Tom and the cats slept in the overstuffed chair.
Tom often brought a dictionary out with him when he sat in the overstuffed chair on the front porch. He loved looking up words just as much as he had when his father taught him how to look up words in a dictionary in the first place, years ago, in the small town where Tom’s family lived. The town was surrounded by apple orchards. Tom’s whole family loved the apple orchards. In the spring, the blossoms were beautiful and smelled good when you walked down the rows of trees. In the fall, everyone came out to “pick-your-own” days.
In between spring and fall, Tom and his friends sneaked into the apple orchard to pick green apples, which always tasted better than any apples you could get in town. Mostly, Tom and his friends weren’t caught. When they were caught, they whispered about their punishments, which differed from family to family. Some kids cried a little when they told their stories, but the tears didn’t last long, because the kids always thought of something new to do.
Tom
For Tom Sigman, who loved the stars, cats, and the dictionary!
Once there was a boy named Tom. Tom liked to look things up in books. He looked things up about stars in the night sky, and cats, and chemistry and other things that interested him.
All his life, Tom kept looking things up in books. When he retired, he had lots of time to look things up and this pleased him very much.
Tom lived in Berkeley, California, right downtown so he could walk everywhere. He lived in a cottage behind another house. His cottage had once been a garage, so it was not very big. It had a front porch that was great for fresh air and also a good place to sleep in the big overstuffed chair beside the front door.
Most of the time during the day, Tom’s cats slept in the chair on the front porch. At night, except in the coldest, rainiest weather, both Tom and the cats slept in the overstuffed chair.
Tom often brought a dictionary out with him when he sat in the overstuffed chair on the front porch. He loved looking up words just as much as he had when his father taught him how to look up words in a dictionary in the first place, years ago, in the small town where Tom’s family lived. The town was surrounded by apple orchards. Tom’s whole family loved the apple orchards. In the spring, the blossoms were beautiful and smelled good when you walked down the rows of trees. In the fall, everyone came out to “pick-your-own” days.
In between spring and fall, Tom and his friends sneaked into the apple orchard to pick green apples, which always tasted better than any apples you could get in town. Mostly, Tom and his friends weren’t caught. When they were caught, they whispered about their punishments, which differed from family to family. Some kids cried a little when they told their stories, but the tears didn’t last long, because the kids always thought of something new to do.