When I was a second grader at Ross Corners Elementary, David M. sat in the front row. David collected all manner of strange things: broken tips of pencils, eraser dust, even pencil shavings. He was the coolest boy in class, and on my way to the garbage can or pencil sharpener, I would find ways to drop a handful of eraser dust or graphite onto the corner of his desk.
Years later, my friend Janet Y. told me about her husband sticking lollipops in the ground so their toddlers would find a lollipop garden. These two stories swirled into this poem. The brain mixes old and new, just like a dream.
Where did the idea for collecting toenails come from? I clipped my daughter's nails yesterday and after she
went to sleep, I found a few lying around. No one here really collects toenails. Not yet, anyway. But yes, the toenails in the picture are real.
(Please click on COMMENTS below to share a thought.)
1. I collect whiskers from our pets. Their baby teeth, too.
ReplyDelete2. One of my favorite folk songs is Burl Ives singing "Lollipop Tree."
3. There's a book character who collected fingernail clippings. Bonus points if you can name her.
Wow! My daughters want to know how you get the whiskers. (Georgia asked, "Does she PULL THEM OUT?" and then laughed.) We give up on the book...what is it? No points for us.
ReplyDeleteA.
No, Georgia, I don't PULL the whiskers, I find them on the couch and by their food bowls and such. The baby teeth...now that's another matter! When they got really loose and you could see the grown-up tooth pushing that little baby tooth aside...well, sometimes I, uh, HELPED things along a little! :-)
ReplyDeleteAs for the character and the book, it's Jennifer in JENNIFER, HECATE, MACBETH, WILLIAM MCKINLEY, AND ME, ELIZABETH by E.L. Konigsberg. You have to read to a little past halfway to find the spot. But it's a great book, so you won't mind.
Thank you once again, Mary Lee! We will get that book out from the library.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're very relieved about the whiskers! hee hee. What fun!
A.