POETRY Tread Softly Written by Dina Anastasio www.readinga-z.com Tread Softly A Reading A–Z Poetry Book • Word Count: 1,583 Visit www.readinga-z.com for thousands of books and materials Photo Credits: Cover, back cover, 4, (main), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (main), 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24 (left): © ArtToday; page 6: © Annie Griffiths Belt/Getty Images; page 9: © Gary Hardel/CORBIS; page 13: © George Grall/Getty Images; page 20: © Michael & Patricia Fogden/CORBIS; page 21: © Jim Merli/Getty Images Tread Softly A ReadingA–Z Poetry Book © 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Written by Dina Anastasio All rights reserved www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com Written by Dina Anastasio Tread Softly Table of Contents Instinct Camouflage Echolocation Metamorphosis Complete Metamorphosis Adapt 10 Defense Mechanisms 12 Communicate 14 Groups 15 Imprinting 16 Animal homes .18 Mimicry 20 Molt 21 Spawn 22 Nocturnal animals 23 Migration 24 I wish I were a spider, For I would know, just know, Without being told, How to spin a silken ladder, And a spiral scaffold If my woven scaffold snapped Would you be my silken net? Or must I spin a parachute To carry me to the cold, hard ground below? Silken Scaffold Some things, such as flying south, weaving a spider’s web, and building a nest, are done by Instinct It’s just built in, like blinking and suckling are for humans Many animals and insects escape danger by hiding in places that are the same colors as they are This is called Camouflage I Thought It Was a Twig I almost snapped a walking stick It wasn’t very big I was strolling through the woods, And thought it was a twig walking stick The walking stick lay taut and still It almost fooled me, Until I saw it shudder as My fingers touched the tree I almost snapped a walking stick It wasn’t very big Until its body trembled, I thought it was a twig Sometimes, in the soft morning twilight, When the world is silent and the shadows still, I tiptoe out to the little roofless house And lie in the dawn dew, weaving daffodils through my fingertips Above my head, a corner nest slips a twig or two Spiders spin and weave, Twisting silken webs A monarch butterfly waits to go Thousands of miles to escape the snow How they know? How they know? I close my eyes, and wonder why Morning Twilight Some animals, such as dolphins and bats, send out sounds to find their way or to catch prey The sounds bounce off objects and echo back to the animals This is called Echolocation If I Could Ride a Dolphin Oh, to ride a dolphin, To leap and dive and play If I could ride a dolphin, We’d click to find our way We’d skim around a submarine, And slide around a whale, Our clicks would echo off of them And guide us as we sailed We’d click our way through sunken ships Hidden in the sea Oh, to ride a dolphin What magic that would be! adult frog When did you leave your brothers behind, little frog, And begin to watch me with those vast new eyes? froglet When did this frog, by my log, Cease to be a tadpole? When did his long arrow tail shrink and disappear? When did he stop breathing through gills? Swimming through cattails? tadpole with legs tadpole Frog on a Log egg Some animals completely change their body shape as they grow older This is called Metamorphosis Sometimes one creature, such as a caterpillar, completely changes shape and becomes something else, such as a pupa and then a butterfly This is called Complete Metamorphosis How Odd to Be a Butterfly butterfly How odd to be a butterfly, For butterflies don’t know That once they all were caterpillars Not too long ago How odd to be a butterfly, For butterflies don’t know That once they all were pupas Not too long ago How odd to be a butterfly, For butterflies don’t know A peaceful hush will follow them No matter where they go pupa caterpillar 10 If I lived in a hole, like a mole, And saw only darkness, Would my eyes be small? If I peered through the evening shadows, Like an owl, Would my eyes be large and wise? The Whys of Eyes Animals and people Adapt, or change, to fit their environment Tread Softly I not need the wings of a bird to soar beyond a mountain’s canvas I go on foot, treading higher, uphill, Giant strides fading to labored baby steps, Past quaking aspen I not need flippers, Because I live on the land, Or a parrot’s beak, Or claws like a falcon But I need lips so that I can kiss you, And fingers so that I can hold your hand 11 12 His quills rose up to greet me, I shrugged and stepped away He padded on I heard him grunt, On that late October day As I was strolling barefoot Through a late October day, I came upon a porcupine, Going on his way Barefoot Many creatures have developed ways to protect themselves and their young from predators These are called Defense Mechanisms Many species Communicate with each other in ways that only they can understand Secrets When two old seals rest beside the sun-shimmering water and clap, Do they think of yesterday? When whales sing back and forth over the cold wave hollow, Do they speak of tomorrow? When beavers slap their tails, And honeybees dance, And insects rub their tiny legs and wings together, Do they share secrets that I will never know? 14 13 I swam beside a seahorse He did not seem to care Perhaps his mind was on the eggs Their mother had left there I swam beside a seahorse, Deep inside the sea His pouch was full of tiny eggs He did not look at me I Swam Beside a Seahorse Many animals live in Groups, but almost always of their own kind There is safety in numbers, and the members of the group help to protect each other Together I wonder if a pride of lions high-steps proudly through the jungle, And gaggles of geese squawk and cry and howl and yowl? Do armies of ants stomp and clomp and stamp and tramp? Do broods of pheasants ponder and muse? And kindles of kittens poke and stir and fan the fire? Isn’t it odd that a multitude of huge whales is called a pod, And a bunch of fish is called a school? Tell me why You and you and you and I, Are called a group Instead of a sounder or a flock 15 16 One of those ducklings must yearn to explore The shadows of caves or a shell on the shore So why they stay there, time after time, Following their mother in that neat little line? Why those ducklings stay in that line, Following their mother time after time? Isn’t there one who wishes to follow An ant, or a tiger, a turtle, or swallow? In a Line When a creature learns to disregard everything except its mother, it is called Imprinting Animal homes differ because the needs of creatures are not the same But all creatures must find food, care for their young, and protect themselves from predators Animal Homes A rabbit lives in a warren, A lion lives in a lair, A hole is home to a mouse, And a cave is home to a bear beaver lodge A shell is home to a turtle, A hive is home to a bee, A nest is home to an eagle, A seahorse lives in the sea I wish my roof was made of stars, My living room the skies, I’d share my home with zebras And swallowtail butterflies 18 17 I guess that I will never see A swallow in a perfect V Of snow geese far up in the sky I wonder why I’ll never see a jay take wing Because he hears a robin sing, Or watch an eagle in the sky Teach a blackbird how to fly I wonder why I Wonder Why The Beaver The beaver pond is frozen now The beaver’s lodge is silent I cannot see him come and go No ripples shift the quiet But somewhere just beneath the ice, The beaver slips away To search for food, Then he returns And sleeps another day I’ve seen him carry twigs and clay I’ve seen him build his dome I hope he thought to weave a door, To close when he comes home 19 20 I have seen a falcon flee From the spots on a clearwing butterfly’s wings, Thinking they were the eyes of a hungry cat Unblinking cat eyes Butterfly wings shuddering Confused falcon trembling Fly away, falcon You have been fooled Spots Many creatures imitate others so that they can escape from their enemies This is called Mimicry Many creatures travel thousands of miles to return to the place where they were born to lay eggs, or Spawn When I Am Old When I am old, I will follow the eels through the waves’ ridges and hollows, To the far away Sargasso Sea I will pin my gray hair up, And wait there, above the deep tangled grasping seaweed Drifting beneath the star-sprinkles, I will whisper hello—hello, To the eels that have come the other way I will stay, as they lay their eggs, And say goodbye, as they drift and die, And if I cannot find my way, I will follow the spawn We will watch the sky, And ride the currents home—together 22 21 Silent snake, slipping through my dawdling shadow, Where have you disappeared to? Are you there, in that dome of bronze and amber leaves? Have you left your too-tight, dog-eared skin behind for me to find? Silent Snake Many snakes, lizards, and insects shed their skins, or Molt, when they outgrow them Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and come out at night Outside My Window Outside my open window, Something moves through the charcoal night, No stars dust the shadows with sprinkles of light Something moves there, then moves again, Rustling the foxgloves and ivy There is no moon tonight I tiptoe across the room To close the window tight, Then hesitate, and wait—listening Rolled-up hedgehog, pulsing owl, Gasping raccoon, growling badger Who is there? I turn to find my bed in the darkness, And leave the window open 23 24 Black-framed orange ladybug, Tiptoe from the white, white snow, Hitch a ride on the wing of the reigning monarch butterfly Go now, and glide through the gray threatening sky, Below the stormy moon, Then rest ladybug, rest in the summer sun Flying South Many creatures travel a very long way to escape the cold This is called Migration [...]... on a clearwing butterfly’s wings, Thinking they were the eyes of a hungry cat Unblinking cat eyes Butterfly wings shuddering Confused falcon trembling Fly away, falcon You have been fooled Spots Many creatures imitate others so that they can escape from their enemies This is called Mimicry Many creatures travel thousands of miles to return to the place where they were born to lay eggs, or Spawn When... watch the sky, And ride the currents home—together 22 21 Silent snake, slipping through my dawdling shadow, Where have you disappeared to? Are you there, in that dome of bronze and amber leaves? Have you left your too-tight, dog-eared skin behind for me to find? Silent Snake Many snakes, lizards, and insects shed their skins, or Molt, when they outgrow them Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and come ... Grall/Getty Images; page 20: © Michael & Patricia Fogden/CORBIS; page 21: © Jim Merli/Getty Images Tread Softly A ReadingA–Z Poetry Book © 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Written by... people Adapt, or change, to fit their environment Tread Softly I not need the wings of a bird to soar beyond a mountain’s canvas I go on foot, treading higher, uphill, Giant strides fading to... Anastasio All rights reserved www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com Written by Dina Anastasio Tread Softly Table of Contents Instinct