Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SORES by DOUGLAS MALLOCH

First Line: THIS JOHNNY JONES HE THINKS HE'S SMART
Last Line: BUT ME, I'VE GOT ELEVEN MORE.

This Johnny Jones he thinks he's smart,
But now I bet I've got the start --
The start of him -- I bet that I
Can prove it, too, and that's no lie.
For yesterday I fell downstairs
And bumped myself most ev'rywheres,
And then today I tried to crawl
Through some bob wire, and that ain't all:
Right after I got over that
I tried to play with Mary's cat;
I didn't know she'd scratch or bite.
(The cat, I mean.) She can all right.

I've got a bump behind my ear,
Another lump right over here
Above my eye. And, black and blue
There's seven other places, too.
I'm scratched and skinned: one leg of mine
Six different spots, the other nine.
Well, just a little while ago
This Johnny Jones come over, so
We counted up. You ought to see
How jealous Johnny is of me.
He counted every little sore --
But me, I've got eleven more.



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