Jenny Whitehead - The Litterbug

The Litterbug
by
Jenny Whitehead

A spider leaves his web of white
that caught his midnight snack last night,
but we don't mind.

A slug leaves us his long ooze trail
still sticky like old ginger ale,
but we don't mind.

A litterbug leaves wads of trash---
pop cans and candy wrappers smashed.
Now, we mind.

This bug gives good bugs a bad name,
And we can't squish him---what a shame!

©Jenny Whitehead. All rights reserved.

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True story - I knew the book Punctuation Celebration which is illustrated by one Jenny Whitehead (and written by Elsa Knight Bruno). And I ran into a book called Holiday Stew, a collection of holiday and seasonal poems written by one Jenny Whitehead. And, yeah, illustrated by her, too, but it's not like the book explicitly SAYS that, ya know? Sigh.

Anyway, I'm glad I figured out they were one and the same person, because I love the way Jenny turns a phrase and the way she makes one come to life visually. The Litterbug is a great lead in to Earth Day (coming up Monday) with its lovely twist on bugginess. And yeah, doesn't the poem simply scream out to be illustrated? Anyone have a suggestion for who might do that? Anyone?

I hope you get a chance to check out Jenny Whitehead's books, particularly knowing her dual identity! I'm glad I found them, and I'm incredibly happy to have her here at GottaBook as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday Kristin Elizabeth Clark gave us Pronoun. Tomorrow... Maria Testa with First Game Ever, Perfect! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.