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Poetry Class Poetry Fun
Learn how to write nursery rhymes, limericks, list poems, and more! Fill-in-the-blank poems,
poetry theater, and more!
You and your friends can perform poetry plays with these popular and funny poems.


Autobiography
Read Bruce Lansky's autobiography and see if you can spot all the fibs!


Challenge yourself with these fun
word games!

Ask the Poet

Read interviews with your
favorite poets and ask
your own questions!

Ask Linda Knaus
about the Most Important Job

Ask Kathy Kenney-Marshall
about Poetry & Kids

More Ask the Poet interviews.

Authors In Schools
Authors In Schools
Hey teachers, learn how to invite
your students' favorite poets to your
school, including Bruce Lansky,
Kenn Nesbitt, Ted Scheu, Bill Dodds,
Robert Pottle, Charles Ghigna,
Eric Ode, and others.


   
   
 

Excuses, Excuses

 


 

by Joyce Armor

 


 
 
  I couldn’t do my homework.
I had asthma and was wheezing.
I had nosebleeds, measles, heat rash,
with some very painful sneezing,
and itchy skin with blisters—
oh so blotchy red and hivy—
malaria and toothaches,
and a patch of poison ivy,
eight spider bites and hair loss,
and a broken leg with scabies,
Rocky Mountain spotted fever,
and a full-blown case of rabies.
I suffered—it was awful—
but I’m feeling better now.
Could I have done my homework?
No, I really don’t see how.

 

Text © Joyce Armor, reprinted from No More Homework! No More Tests! published by Meadowbrook Press. Illustration © Stephen Carpenter. Any copying or use of this poem or illustration without consent is unlawful.

Click the cover below for more information or to buy the book.