Judith Viorst

I dug this one up at the request of a coworker affectionately knows as “Dawg”.

Mother Doesn't Want a Dog
By Judith Viorst

Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they smell,
And never sit when you say sit,
Or even when you yell.
And when you come home late at night
And there is ice and snow,
You have to go back out because
The dumb dog has to go.

Mother doesn't want a dog.
Mother says they shed,
And always let the strangers in
And bark at friends instead,
And do disgraceful things on rugs,
And track mud on the floor,
And flop upon your bed at night
And snore their doggy snore.

Mother doesn't want a dog.
She's making a mistake.
Because, more than a dog, I think
She will not want this snake.

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Judith Viorst was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1931. She
is the author of several works of fiction and nonfiction, for children
well as adults. Her most recent work of nonfiction, Imperfect Control,
was published by Simon and Schuster in 1998. She is also the author
of Murdering Mr. Monti (1994) and Necessary Losses (1986) which
appeared on The New York Times best-seller list in hardcover and
paperback for almost two years. Her children's books include The
Tenth Good Thing About Barney(1971), The Alphabet From Z to A
(1994), and the "Alexander" stories: Alexander, Who Used to be Rich
Last Sunday (1978); Alexander, Who's Not (Do Your Hear Me? I Mean
It!) Going to Move (1995); and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No
Good, Very Bad Day (1972). A graduate of the Washington Psychoanalytic
Institute, she is the recipient of variousawards for her journalism and
psychological writings. Judith Viorst livesin Washington, DC, with
her husband, political writer Milton Viorst.

For more on reading poetry with children:
http://poets.org/exh/Exhibit.cfm?45442B7C000C0705