Grade 2 Option 1

The Contents of My Desk

A nail.
A nickel.
A snail.
A pickle.
A twisted-up
slinky.
A ring for
my pinky.
A blackened
banana.
A love note
from Hannah.
My doodles
of rockets.
The lint from
my pockets.
A fork-like
utensil.
But sorry…
no pencil.

 --Kenn Nesbitt

Option 2 

My Elephant Is Missing

by Kenn Nesbitt

I cannot find my elephant.
He must have run away.
He isn’t on the sofa
where he promised he would stay.

I’ll need to get a bloodhound
who can track him by his scent,
or hire a house detective
to discover where he went.

Perhaps I’ll make some posters,
and I’ll offer a reward.
I’d make it more, but fifty cents
is all I can afford.

He knows the way. It’s up the street
and down our garden path.
And next time I won’t warn him
when it’s time to take his bath.