BOBBY’S POCKET by Carolyn Wells

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 30, 1901

BOBBY’S POCKET

By Carolyn Wells

OUR Bobby is a little boy of six years or so; And every kind of rubbish in his pocket he will stow. One day he thought he’d empty it (so he again could stock it), And here’s an alphabet of what was found in Bobby’s pocket:

A was a rosy apple, with some bites out here and there;

B was a bouncing rubber ball that bounded in the air.

C was a crispy, crusty cake, with citron on the top;

D was a dancing donkey that could jump around and hop.

E was a little robin’s egg, all speckled blue and brown;

F was a fluffy feather that was white and soft as down.

G was a lively grasshopper, whose legs and wings were green;

H was a grimy handkerchief that once perhaps was clean.

I was a plaster image that had lost its plaster head;

J was a jolly jumping-jack all painted blue and red.

K was a keen and shining knife, ’twould cut the toughest bark;

L was a little wooden lion, strayed out of Noah’s ark.

M was a marble, large and round, with colors bright and clear;

N was a bent and rusty nail, of little use, I fear.

O was a tiny oil-can, which was always upside down;

P was a penny Bob had saved to spend some day in town.

Q was a quilted ear-tab, which had lost its velvet mate;

R was a ring with glassy gem of wondrous size and weight.

S was a string, a piece of soap, a stone, a sponge, a stick;

T was a lump of taffy, exceeding soft and thick.

U, an umbrella-handle of silver-mounted horn;

V was a comic valentine, a little creased and worn.

W was some sticky wax, lovely to pinch and mold;

X was an old express receipt, worn out in every fold.

Y was a lot of yellow yarn, all bunched up like a mop;

Z was a jagged piece of zinc, found in a plumber’s shop.

All these are Bob’s possessions; he loves each single thing, And owning all these treasures; he’s as happy as a king.

— Carolyn Wells, in Little Folks.