What is that thing at the end of my bed
With two stubby arms and eight hideous heads?!
They line up in pairs, each bigger than the other.
The biggest are fierce and pull on my cover.

Oh, I am scared! They won’t go away!
They’re staring at me like I’m their next prey.
I tell them to “Stop, please scram – leave me be!”
But nothing I say will get them to flee.

So I pull up my sheet to cover my face
And hide from this demon – I’m afraid he will chase.
But when I do so, it makes him grow taller,
Causing me to shrink down under my collar.

Then I shout to my mom and bang on the wall:
“Can you come to my room at the end of the hall?
There’s a monster in here! Please turn on the light!”
But she says, “Go to sleep, darling child. Good night.”

Alone and afraid, there’s only one thing to do
To bid this terrible monster adieu.
If he gets any closer, I fear we will meet,
So I must move swiftly – no time for retreat!

I reach under my bed and grab my toy gun,
Load up a pellet and aim for the big one,
I hold my breath, and, without missing a beat,

I shoot at him –

OUCH!

It’s only my feet.

© 2010 Pasqual Torres

I painted lots of pictures –
Surely you can see.
I colored tons of drawings.
See this one? It’s me!

I painted lots of rainbows
And little unicorns.
And here’s one of your head
With long, pointy horns!

I hang them on my bedpost,
I hang them on the wall.
I made so many pictures,
I cannot hang them all!

I covered every window.
I covered every door.
I hung some from the ceiling.
I glued some to the floor.

My whole room has become
My greatest masterpiece.
If I could only find the light switch
Then I could go to sleep.

© 2010 Pasqual Torres

I wanted to try a fun little game
To say “I love you” – no two were the same.
I asked her plainly, as I often do,
“Do you know how much I love you?”

She held out her hands and said, “Yes, I do!
But I love you more than ten-times-two!”
“Oh please,” I said, “My wee little one,
I love you more – that’s twenty-one!”

“Oh Daddy Dear, you are quite smart,
But this is just the very start!”
My love for you is more than that –
I love you more than the night is black.”

And I said, “Is that the best you can do?
I love you more than the sky is blue.”
She quickly replied back to me:
“I love you more than the deepest sea!”

“Excuse me, but I love you the most –
All the way from coast to coast!”
“Oh Daddy, I may be your little girl,
But I love you further – try around the world!”

But I said, “Oh sweetheart, you spoke too soon!
I love you the distance from here to the moon!”
At this point, I was convinced we we’re done
‘Til she said, “I love you from here to the Sun!”

“Oh darling, how very worldly you are.
But I love you to the furthest star!”
Truly this distance could not be topped.
I’d gotten her now – we surely would stop!

But she gave a response that left me awed:
“I love you from here all the way up to God.”

© 2010 Pasqual Torres

A google full of giggles are getting hold of me –
A symphony of snickers I’m dying to set free!
But I can’t let out the laughter. I can’t let out the cheer.
I have to hold them in – make them disappear.

‘Cause if Mom sees me laughing at my sister anymore,
She’ll send me to my room and make me clean the floor!
But I can barely help it – my sister looks so funny!
She fell asleep in her oatmeal, and her hair is full of honey!

So I bottle up the snickers and suck in all my giggles,
But another wave hits me, and my mouth begins to wiggle.
I trumpet out a laugh so loud I nearly wet my pants!
Hopping on my toes, I start doing a pee-pee dance!

Tears roll down my face as I stop myself from chuckling,
But I’m in serious trouble as my knees begin buckling.
I’m rolling on the floor now, I’ve completely lost control!
It tickles me so deeply, I feel it in my soul!

Now I see my mother’s face is turning shades of red.
I think she’ll surely blow the top right off her pretty head!
But suddenly I notice tears are welling in her eyes,
And she begins to laugh out loud – much to my surprise!

She then collapses on the floor, rolling all around,
Giggling just as loud as me and making a funny sound.
It’s like a snorting donkey or hyena in a fit.
Then I hear another noise… but can’t make sense of it.

It starts as “gurgle gurgle”, then a “glub glub glub,”
And now I hear more laughter coming from above!
Like an oatmeal monster, dripping gooey globs of honey,
Out comes a bellowing roar from my sister’s tummy.

We’re rattling the windows and shaking the chandelier.
We are so loud and shrieking that I cover up my ears!
And during this excitement, guess who’s home from work?
It is our loving father wondering why we’ve gone berserk!

“What’s all this commotion? What’s causing you to squeal?”
But then he sees my sister all covered in oatmeal.
His laughter starts as “ha”, and then the “ha” is two.
‘Til finally he’s giggling on the floor with us, too!

None of us can stop – we’re even laughing at our laughing,
And I can’t remember why all of this is happening.
So I start to catch my breath and do my best to stand…
Then I see my sticky sister, and it starts all over again!

© 2010 Pasqual Torres