Thrift Store Poetry: Winnie's Book of Poems

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! IT'S JULY!!! Be sure to visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference for Roundup.

Earlier this spring while antique/thrift shopping with my dear friend Pat in Florence, Alabama, I happened up a poetic treasure:

WINNIE'S POEMS - a binder lovingly covered in felt and a hand-cut Pooh-bear!

Here is the dedication page:

Poems

for

Ever

A Book

A book, I think, is very like

A little golden door

That takes me into places

Where I've never been before.

It leads me into fairyland

Or countries strange and far,

And best of all the golden door

Always stands ajar.

- Adelaide Love

...and here is the Contents page:

 Collected by Nancy Simmons

Now: Who was Nancy Simmons? How old was she? How did she come to love poetry? Why these poems? I want to know more more more!

And here is a sampling of some of the poems, with lovely illustrations:

Buttercup Cow

Buttercup Cow has milk for me

I drink in my silver cup at tea.

Buttercup cow is speckled and white,

She lives in the meadow from morning till night,

Buttercup Cow hasn't got any bed,

But the moon and the stars look in at her shed.

Buttercup Cow, I'm glad to be me,

Drinking your pretty white milk for my tea.

- Elizabeth Randall

The Hairy Dog

My dog's so furry I've not seen

His face for years and years:

His eyes are buried out of sight,

I only guess his ears.

When people ask me for his breed,

I do not know or care:

He has the beauty of them all

Hidden beneath his hair.

- Herbert Asquith

Hearth

A cat sat quaintly by the fire

And watched the burning coals

And watched the little flames aspire

Like small decrepit souls.

Queer little fire with coals so fat

And crooked flames that rise,

No queerer than the little cat

With fire in its eyes.

- Peggy Bacon

...this next one might be my favorite (and I'm dedicating it to you, Michelle!):

The Ichthyosaurus

There once was an Ichthyosauraus

Who lived when the earth was all porous,

But he fainted with shame

When he first heard his name,

And departed a long time before us.

AND there's even a bibliography at the end! Yes, each poem is sourced. Isn't that wonderful? (Maybe Nancy was a teacher? Or an older student following instructions? Or a POET ? I like to think so!)

So now me and Nancy are Friends for Ever. Thank you, Nancy, whoever (and wherever) you are!