Sidewalk Chalk

By Carole Boston Weatherford
Big and bold now, write your name.
Draw an arrow, then take aim
at a puffy heart: "Kim loves Kyle."
Doodling's sure to bring a smile.
How about some tic-tac-toe?
You be X; I'll be O.
Draw a yellow happy face
or the finish line for a relay race,
a wide, wide river to leap across,
a little circle for beanbag toss,
a bigger circle to play dodge ball.
Trace a shadow ten feet tall.
Make a line for tug-of-war
and signs that no one dare ignore.
Create a sun with a beaming grin,
a great white shark with a giant fin.
Draw a square to make home plate,
a swirly figure eight to skate.
Big and bold now, write your name.
Keep the score for sidewalk games.

Copyright Credit: Carole Boston Weatherford, "Sidewalk Chalk" from Sidewalk Chalk: Poems of the City. Copyright © 2001 by Carole Boston Weatherford.  Reprinted by permission of Wordsong Press, a division of Astra Publishing House.
Source: Sidewalk Chalk: Poems of the City (Wordsong Press, 2001)