Two More Poems

The kids decided that Pa and I needed our own poems. These are also from all the small poems and fourteen more by Valerie Worth:

For Pa because he's been broken in and as Mr. Laura put it "he's a real dad now":
pail

A new pail,
Straight, tight,
Brushed to a cold
Silver shine,

Soon learns
Other ways:
Once filled with
Oats or ashes,

Grayed by rain,
Its handle
Bent, its
Bottom dented,

Grown peaceful
And plain,
It becomes
A real pail.

And for Ma and the inevitable day when "all the chicks have flown the coop":
fence

The old fence
Has fallen down,
A pile of gray
Rails resting
In the grass.

Where are all
The cows now,
That leaned
Hard there,
Hoping to get out?

Have they pushed
Through, and walked
Down the road,
Past all fences
Forever?