I remember writing this one in my prefects note book. I was inspired by some comical poems I’d read when I was younger. I think comical poems, even if they aren’t the best literary works, just hit a warm fuzzy note in my soul. I’m glad one of the earliest poems I can ever remember writing was comical. I think too, that this poem was directed at my little sister, for always asking my brother and I “duh” questions

I went up to my brother and asked:
“Why do we have to wear shoes?”
“So our toes won’t run away”
“So our toes won’t run away?”
“Yes, toes run very fast you know.”
And he gave me one of those brotherly smirks brothers always give.
The next day I went to my sister and said:
“Calvin says that our toes will run away if we don’t wear shoes”
“Oh don’t be silly. They won’t run away. They’ll smell.”
“Smell?”
“Yes. They can smell mum’s cooking, or the flowers or the carpet”
Then she looked at me in a very sisterly way that sisters always do
The next day I went to my brother again and said:
“Claire says our toes smell”
“Of course they do, silly”
“Smell things like mum’s cooking and the carpet?”
“No, they can’t smell the carpet. Because the carpet has a very special smell.”
“What kind of smell?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret”
Then he raised his eyebrows up and down in the brotherly way brothers do.
The next day I asked my sister:
“What does the carpet smell like? Calvin says it’s got a secret smell”
“Then I can’t tell you what the carpet smells like”
“Then how will I know?”
“Smell it yourself”
Then she gave me a very sisterly smile the way sisters do
So I went to smell the carpet
And do you know what it smells like?
Smelly toes after running

30/7/1997