A Poem for Tuesday

As I wrote the other day, my mother found a copy of  "Poems Children Enjoy" for me.  I'm very excited for us to start looking through it.  Here's our first one from the collection edited by Elizabeth F. Noon, illustrated by Ruth B. Karb and James E. Palmer, F.A. Owen Publishing Company, 1953.

February Fun
Harriette W. Porter


In February, when the bark
Of maple trees is wet and dark,
And warm sunshine melts nighttime's freeze,
We know it's time to tap the trees.


Oh, making maple syrup's fun!
All day and night the sweet drops run,
Now fast, now slow, from a little spile -- 
A spout of wood.  And all the while
We children tend the blazing fire
And rake the coals to flame up higher
Below the boiling kettle.  Then,
With long, strong ladles, boys and men
Keep stirring the sap so it won't burn.
(I like to do my ladle-turn.)


To test the syrup, we drop spots
In nests of snow.  Then when the dots,
Or pool, are cool, we sample them -- 
Each brown bit a brown and tasty gem.
Yes, making maple syrup's fun
From tapping the trees till the job is done.