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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE POOH-POOH BIRD, by BURGES JOHNSON Poet's Biography
First Line: You've often heard / the pooh-pooh bird
Last Line: And he will flee when thus discovered.
Subject(s): Children; Fear; Childhood
First Line: You've often heard / the pooh-pooh bird
Last Line: And he will flee when thus discovered.
Subject(s): Children; Fear; Childhood
You've often heard
The Pooh-Pooh Bird,—
Don't hesitate to take my word!
Yet like myself you've never seen it,
For human gaze would but demean it.
To hide from sight
Is its delight,
And so it mostly flies by night,
And all its life its chief of joys is
To frighten folks with spooky noises.
When lamps are lit,
And lone you sit
A-watching firelight shadows flit,
Some creaky sound will set you squirmin',
Whose whereabouts you can't determine.
'T is thieves perhaps—those furtive taps!
Hark—there again! Your courage saps;
'T is now upstairs, and now the basement,
And now outside against the casement.
But take my word,
Those sounds you heard
Are nothing but the Pooh-Pooh Bird,
Who flits for fun 'round silent houses,
And some lone watcher's fear arouses.
If you would fright
This bird to flight,
Just cry "Pooh Pooh!" with all your might.
You'll find your courage quite recovered,
And he will flee when thus discovered.
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL
COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL
THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL
A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL
CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE
THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE
A BABY AT THE PARTY by BURGES JOHNSON