We were stuck in the house.
Then the electricity died
For our electronic mouse.
I sat there with Grady.
We sat there, we two.
And I said, "How I wish
We had something to do!"
No games on the Wii.
No batteries left.
So we put on our gear.
And went out in the drift.
And the snow was so high.
High
High
Higher
Than me
How can you play in snow
Two feet or three?
And then
Came by the plow!
How that plow made a mound
that made them say, "WOW!"
that made them say, "WOW!"
They dug
and they dug
But they could not see the street.
So they started to make castles
With ladders and sheets.
They packed all the ice.
They carved all the snow.
They made their own mountain
For sledding and dough!
Grady called all the neighbors kids
Out from their yards
And told them that sledding
Was awfully hard.
"No, it's not,"
said his friend.
"I'll show you my skill."
As Will dove right down
Head first on their front yard hill.
So Jack and Grady,
Willy and Dawn
Created their own ski lift
Right there on the lawn.
"No, you can't," said the neighbor,
the worried old grump.
"You can't charge for tickets.
On that little hump.
You can't sled there
or ski there
or ride that skateboard.
You'll skid on the road way
right into my Ford."
"Now, Now! Have no fear,"
said Grady with his bat.
"We'll just try some baseball
to add to this, stat."
"What stat?" asked his brother,
the Jack of his life.
"Not a stat like a number
or a count of Grump's wife?"
"No, no. Like a doctor, when
he needs something, NOW!"
"Quit it, stat!"
said Old Grump,
who looked like a cow.
"Have no fear!" said Grady
"I will not hit the ball!
I will just hit this ice
at the tow truck so tall!
I'll hit with this old stick
I'll hit with my bat.
I'll hit with this broom stick.
Hold on to your hat."
"Watch this one!
Watch this right now," said Grady.
"With a swing and a swoosh,
I'll clear off this bush.
I can knock snow balls over
the neighbor's house. Whooosh!
I can hit with a broom stick.
You can catch with your shovel
And look
We can play baseball
when it's not even fall.
Oh no!
It's the winter, the greatest season of all.
"Go inside
you might say.
You might say, 'get away!'
With your snowballs
and baseballs and games
that you play.
But I can't go inside.
I won't leave this lawn
with its covering of snow
for our shovels of brawn.
My brother is strong.
He'll clear the whole lot.
We'll shut down our ski lift
and make a sand lot.
We'll play the great game.
The game greatest of all.
The game that we call
wintertime baseball."
That is what Grady said
on that cold icy day.
Then he got hit with a lump
that wasn't quite clay.
Then Jack and Grady
began their flurry fight
As they threw at each other
everything white.
And the old grump slipped down,
slipped down on the ice.
As he yelled at the boys,
"Why won't you play nice?"
"Oh, no, should we help?"
said Jack to his brother.
"Should we help the old grump
or should we just call our mother?"
"Now look what you've done!"
said the grumpy old man.
"Now look at my arm.
And look at my head!
And look at my legs!
I must get to bed.
You boys wrecked my body
I am not mistaken.
You wrecked this old soul.
I will never awaken
from this sad nightmare.
First no electricity . . ."
"Well, you never had hair."
"You never had hair,"
said Grady to him.
"At least you can't lose something
that never was yours."
"What a child,"
said the grump,
rubbing his head.
"What a child . . .
At least you can
help me to bed."
And the boys helped the man
And, then, slow as a turtle,
they walked the man home
to meet his wife Myrtle.
As they slogged cross his yard,
the lights came back on.
"Now look at this trick,"
said Grady.
"Take a look!"
Then he got the steps clear
in a wink, with his shovel,
as Jack led the man
who continued to grovel,
"Oh, my wife's in the dark."
"No, she's not. Look at this
Your wife's on the phone,
finding something amiss."
"I will help you inside
You will see something new,"
said Jack to the man
as he pulled out his kazoo.
Old Myrtle was grateful.
She took off Grump's boots,
as Jack played on his pipes
a tune for kazoots.
"Noise, noise," said the man.
"I rather like it,"
said his wife to her husband
as the boys stomped their feet.
And Jack and Grady
knew just what to do.
Grady began singing
to Jack's quick kazoo.
They sang as old Myrtle
helped her husband change.
He changed from his clothing
but he still seem deranged.
"They should not be here.
When their mother is not.
Put them out! Put them out!"
said the man with the pot.
"It's tea," said old Myrtle.
"It's tea. And it's hot."
"Do you expect me to pour it
for these crazy tots?!"
Myrtle gave Grump a pat,
touched him soft on the head,
"Let's share some warm tea
Then for you, off to bed."
"Now, here is a game that I'll never like,"
said Grady.
"To nap is to miss out
on all the fun with my Trike."
And he pulled out a mini
A little, small thumb board
with three wheels beneath it,
for his hands to explore.
He jumped with his fingers
the little mint cookies.
He jumped across the table
and landed in Grump's mookies.
Then Jack and Grady
played with their trikes
as Grump hummed along
on Jack's Kazoo Mike.
Laugh. Laugh.
Tears. Tears.
The Grump went away
as he peeled back the years.
What was left was a child
who remembered to play.
Grump first dreamt of college.
He once went to Spain.
He thought of his Myrtle,
he met on a train.
Her dress was bright red.
He'd never forget it.
Now they still shared a bed
and a life time of credit.
Grump thought of their kids,
now away, well-past college.
He smiled and sighed
as he thought of their knowledge.
Then Jack settled down
settled down from his singing.
The boys listened with awe,
as Grump's story began ringing.
"Bells, Bells, Bells!" said Grump with a smile.
"The church bells and people
and cars lined for miles.
Our wedding," said he.
"with folks from all over.
The relatives and friends
tromped in cross the clover."
"You see," said Grump's wife.
"We got married in a pasture
A judge was presiding,
a speaker, such a master!"
"And when it was over,
you know what they did?
We cleared out the clover
and built us a house.
These yards that you see
all covered with snow,
our kids played there free
all games, to and fro."
"Our sons, now grown up,"
Myrtle said with a sigh.
"Our sons who come visit
when they want to fly."
"Fishing?" asked Grady.
"I love doing that.
I'll never forget how I caught
big Jack's hat."
Then Grady let a fly fly
from his invisible pole,
catching his arm
on the edge of the stove.
Down, down came the plates.
Down the plates with a clatter.
And Grump rose from his dream
to see what was the matter.
"Oh dear!" said Myrtle
"that ends our dream date."
As Jack scrambled to
clear crumbs from among
shattered plates.
So the boys headed out.
Out to Nature they went.
Leaving Grump and old Myrtle
hunched over and bent.
"That is good," said old Grump.
"Those boys went away YES!"
"They're gone," said his love
As she cleaned up the mess.
That mess was so big,
so wide and so wet.
"We'll never clean this up,
not even our pet."
And then!
Who came back to the door?
The two boys
leaving their boots and what's more.
"Have no fear of our troubles,"
said Grady and Jack.
"We'll clear this right up
with elbows and bubbles."
Then the boys cleaned right up
on their knees and their hands.
They picked up the cookies.
They picked up the pans.
And the milk, and the team
each one little drop.
And the saucer and cup.
Till each sud, it went pop.
They put each thing away,
in each little place
and, when they were gone,
they left no single trace.
Then the boys headed home.
Right home to their mother,
who worried at the door,
like each mother other.
"What did you do?
Where have you been?"
she asked with a stare
and not a hint of a grin.
Should they tell her about it?
What should they do?
Well . . .
What would you do
If your mother asked you?
"No, you can't," said the neighbor,
the worried old grump.
"You can't charge for tickets.
On that little hump.
You can't sled there
or ski there
or ride that skateboard.
You'll skid on the road way
right into my Ford."
"Now, Now! Have no fear,"
said Grady with his bat.
"We'll just try some baseball
to add to this, stat."
"What stat?" asked his brother,
the Jack of his life.
"Not a stat like a number
or a count of Grump's wife?"
"No, no. Like a doctor, when
he needs something, NOW!"
"Quit it, stat!"
said Old Grump,
who looked like a cow.
"Have no fear!" said Grady
"I will not hit the ball!
I will just hit this ice
at the tow truck so tall!
I'll hit with this old stick
I'll hit with my bat.
I'll hit with this broom stick.
Hold on to your hat."
"Watch this one!
Watch this right now," said Grady.
"With a swing and a swoosh,
I'll clear off this bush.
I can knock snow balls over
the neighbor's house. Whooosh!
I can hit with a broom stick.
You can catch with your shovel
And look
We can play baseball
when it's not even fall.
Oh no!
It's the winter, the greatest season of all.
"Go inside
you might say.
You might say, 'get away!'
With your snowballs
and baseballs and games
that you play.
But I can't go inside.
I won't leave this lawn
with its covering of snow
for our shovels of brawn.
My brother is strong.
He'll clear the whole lot.
We'll shut down our ski lift
and make a sand lot.
We'll play the great game.
The game greatest of all.
The game that we call
wintertime baseball."
That is what Grady said
on that cold icy day.
Then he got hit with a lump
that wasn't quite clay.
Then Jack and Grady
began their flurry fight
As they threw at each other
everything white.
And the old grump slipped down,
slipped down on the ice.
As he yelled at the boys,
"Why won't you play nice?"
"Oh, no, should we help?"
said Jack to his brother.
"Should we help the old grump
or should we just call our mother?"
"Now look what you've done!"
said the grumpy old man.
"Now look at my arm.
And look at my head!
And look at my legs!
I must get to bed.
You boys wrecked my body
I am not mistaken.
You wrecked this old soul.
I will never awaken
from this sad nightmare.
First no electricity . . ."
"Well, you never had hair."
"You never had hair,"
said Grady to him.
"At least you can't lose something
that never was yours."
"What a child,"
said the grump,
rubbing his head.
"What a child . . .
At least you can
help me to bed."
And the boys helped the man
And, then, slow as a turtle,
they walked the man home
to meet his wife Myrtle.
As they slogged cross his yard,
the lights came back on.
"Now look at this trick,"
said Grady.
"Take a look!"
Then he got the steps clear
in a wink, with his shovel,
as Jack led the man
who continued to grovel,
"Oh, my wife's in the dark."
"No, she's not. Look at this
Your wife's on the phone,
finding something amiss."
"I will help you inside
You will see something new,"
said Jack to the man
as he pulled out his kazoo.
Old Myrtle was grateful.
She took off Grump's boots,
as Jack played on his pipes
a tune for kazoots.
"Noise, noise," said the man.
"I rather like it,"
said his wife to her husband
as the boys stomped their feet.
And Jack and Grady
knew just what to do.
Grady began singing
to Jack's quick kazoo.
They sang as old Myrtle
helped her husband change.
He changed from his clothing
but he still seem deranged.
"They should not be here.
When their mother is not.
Put them out! Put them out!"
said the man with the pot.
"It's tea," said old Myrtle.
"It's tea. And it's hot."
"Do you expect me to pour it
for these crazy tots?!"
Myrtle gave Grump a pat,
touched him soft on the head,
"Let's share some warm tea
Then for you, off to bed."
"Now, here is a game that I'll never like,"
said Grady.
"To nap is to miss out
on all the fun with my Trike."
And he pulled out a mini
A little, small thumb board
with three wheels beneath it,
for his hands to explore.
He jumped with his fingers
the little mint cookies.
He jumped across the table
and landed in Grump's mookies.
Then Jack and Grady
played with their trikes
as Grump hummed along
on Jack's Kazoo Mike.
Laugh. Laugh.
Tears. Tears.
The Grump went away
as he peeled back the years.
What was left was a child
who remembered to play.
Grump first dreamt of college.
He once went to Spain.
He thought of his Myrtle,
he met on a train.
Her dress was bright red.
He'd never forget it.
Now they still shared a bed
and a life time of credit.
Grump thought of their kids,
now away, well-past college.
He smiled and sighed
as he thought of their knowledge.
Then Jack settled down
settled down from his singing.
The boys listened with awe,
as Grump's story began ringing.
"Bells, Bells, Bells!" said Grump with a smile.
"The church bells and people
and cars lined for miles.
Our wedding," said he.
"with folks from all over.
The relatives and friends
tromped in cross the clover."
"You see," said Grump's wife.
"We got married in a pasture
A judge was presiding,
a speaker, such a master!"
"And when it was over,
you know what they did?
We cleared out the clover
and built us a house.
These yards that you see
all covered with snow,
our kids played there free
all games, to and fro."
"Our sons, now grown up,"
Myrtle said with a sigh.
"Our sons who come visit
when they want to fly."
"Fishing?" asked Grady.
"I love doing that.
I'll never forget how I caught
big Jack's hat."
Then Grady let a fly fly
from his invisible pole,
catching his arm
on the edge of the stove.
Down, down came the plates.
Down the plates with a clatter.
And Grump rose from his dream
to see what was the matter.
"Oh dear!" said Myrtle
"that ends our dream date."
As Jack scrambled to
clear crumbs from among
shattered plates.
So the boys headed out.
Out to Nature they went.
Leaving Grump and old Myrtle
hunched over and bent.
"That is good," said old Grump.
"Those boys went away YES!"
"They're gone," said his love
As she cleaned up the mess.
That mess was so big,
so wide and so wet.
"We'll never clean this up,
not even our pet."
And then!
Who came back to the door?
The two boys
leaving their boots and what's more.
"Have no fear of our troubles,"
said Grady and Jack.
"We'll clear this right up
with elbows and bubbles."
Then the boys cleaned right up
on their knees and their hands.
They picked up the cookies.
They picked up the pans.
And the milk, and the team
each one little drop.
And the saucer and cup.
Till each sud, it went pop.
They put each thing away,
in each little place
and, when they were gone,
they left no single trace.
Then the boys headed home.
Right home to their mother,
who worried at the door,
like each mother other.
"What did you do?
Where have you been?"
she asked with a stare
and not a hint of a grin.
Should they tell her about it?
What should they do?
Well . . .
What would you do
If your mother asked you?
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