The Mischievous Rocket

By Ernestine Cobern Beyer

I was watching the Mayor who, genial and spry,
Was setting off rockets one Fourth of July,
When all of a sudden the crowd gave a shout,
For the Mayor was leaping and running about!
I leaned from my seat as I saw that a rocket
Had happened to catch on the flap of his pocket.
Well, it sizzled and hissed for a moment or two,
And then it went up -- and the mayor went, too!

High over rooftops and valleys and parks,
Up he went rapidly, shooting off sparks.
Then the rocket said "Boom!" in a rollicking voice,
And the Mayor came down. (He had no other choice.)
His hat flew away and his coattails unraveled
As straight for the earth he unwillingly traveled.
Then, ending his trip with a good deal of dash,
He fell in a lake with a spirited splash.
Emerging, he looked rather funny, I vow,
With a little green frog decorating his brow.

Since then, I admit I am likely to scoff
At well-behaved rockets that merely go off,
For I like a rocket that's daring and gay --
Like the one that went off with the Mayor that day!

Originally published 7/4/07