American life in poetry

I have always enjoyed poems that celebrate the small pleasures of life. Here Max Mendelsohn, age 12, of Weston, Mass., tells us of the joy he finds in playing with marbles.

Ode to Marbles

I love the sound of marbles

scattered on the worn wooden floor,

like children running away in a game of hide-and-seek.

I love the sight of white marbles,

blue marbles,

green marbles, black,

new marbles, old marbles,

iridescent marbles,

with glass-ribboned swirls,

dancing round and round.

I love the feel of marbles,

cool, smooth,

rolling freely in my palm,

like smooth-sided stars

that light up the worn world.