The Magnifying Glass
by Walter de la Mare

With this round glass
I can make Magic talk --
A myriad shells show
In a scrap of chalk;

Of but an inch of moss
A forest -- flowers and trees;
A drop of water
Like hive of bees.

I lie in wait and watch
How the deft spider jets
The woven web-silk
From his spinnerets;

The tigerish claws he has!
And oh! the silly flies
The stumble into his net --
With all those eyes!

Not even the tiniest thing
But this my glass
Will make more marvellous
And itself surpass.

Yes, and with lenses like it,
Eyeing the moon,
'Twould seem you'd walk there
In an afternoon!

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Liz at A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy has the week's Poetry Friday round-up, including news about the naming of Jack Prelutsky as the new Children's Poet Laureate, a choice I just can't get too worked up about...

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We've been very busy this past month, a different kind of busy than the usual farm and garden busy that kept us so busy at home over the summer. This busy needs us in town more often and has us relying on meetings and other people. I don't dislike it, but it takes some getting used to. Plus the kids are on a roll with school, and Davy has cracked the reading code, which is thrilling. It's been a round of music and art lessons resumed (new voice lessons for Laura, adding Daniel to art), the semiannual homeschool facilitator meeting to check our progress ("There's learning going on in this house!" he smiled at me), the start-up of homeschool gym days and homeschool support group meetings, and an organizational meeting for a new 4H baking club, so it looks as if Laura might be in two 4H clubs (the other meeting for the beef club is next week). And the calendar for the rest of the year is starting to fill up -- Christmas music recitals, the possibility of a Halloween party at a friend's house instead of the usual trick-or-treating, homeschool poetry recital, and more. Oh, and Canadian Thanksgiving is much too close (next weekend). I'll try to get back here with some more posts, updates, and links, in which I'm sorely behind...