Narrative Free-Verse Poem

When I Grow Up

I want to be a horse

I visit the Lindsey Wildlife Museum

nice people come by to tell me things

docents, a fancy museum name for teacher

I will be a horse trainer

We raise chickens and ducks in Ms. Navarro’s class

she’s the best teacher ever!

Summer science camp at the Lindsey

the teachers are really nice

they know a lot about animals

it would be cooler if we learned about horses

Dad tells me that I should be a lawyer

people get paid to argue?

Camp at the Lindsey Museum

I learn how to make a rain stick and identify animal tracks

I cut open a squid and paint a picture of a horse

Mrs. Norse, she stays after school to help us

I must research and write a report on what I want to be when I grow up

The teachers at the Lindsey ask me to be a group leader

they say I am a natural, whatever that means

Give me more science people!

Mr. Pruitt makes friendly jokes

tells me I should be a surgeon

equine surgeon?

“You could be a teacher you know”

teachers can’t afford horses

A real research lab with real scientists

speak in monotone voices and have bags under their eyes

Mom asks how my classes are going

I start to cry

a house of paper

E-mail from Connie at the Lindsey

can the teachers use my horse hair art lesson?

the children are asking about me

the children

The children!

Tommy makes a robot out of pattern blocks

Amy writes a story about the ice cream shop

Simon read excitedly in the book nook

Bella skips around on the grass, stops to neigh and toss her hair

I smile.