Mouse Tail Moon-Favorite Poem

The Chase

By: Joanne Ryder

Claws out,
beak wide,
owl plunges.
Can I hide?
Ears high,
nose down,
paws racing
over ground.
Turn left.
Spin right.
Look! A hole --
snug and tight.
Claws fail.
Paws win.
He's out.
I'm in!

I love this poem! It is so exciting. It reminds me of a song and I like to sort of chant it as I read it. I got this poem from the book Mouse Tail Moon by Joanne Ryder. The book is full of poems from a night out that a mouse might have. All of them are cute and simple poems, but the one above is my favorite. It involves action and excitement. I think the poem is a narrative poem, because it tells the story of an encounter with a mouse and an owl. The rhythm is upbeat and fast because of the action that is happening. It happens really quick, so the rhythm has to be fast. There is a rhyme scheme of ABCBDEFEGHIHJKLK, lines 2 and 4 rhyme, 6 and 8, 10 and 12, and 14 and 16 rhyme. The form of the poem is broken up into actions. Each line is an action. I think that makes it easier to capture the episode that is taking place in the poem. Also, there were images that accompanied the poem, but the description is good enough to form images in your head if the pictures weren't there.