Table of Contents A Missouri Pledge 1 Missouri Backyard Bird Count 2 Molly the Mule 6 Hidden Symbols of Missouri 10 Thomas Hart Benton and the Missouri Mural 13 Sacred Sun 17 Performance Poetry An Osage Legend 20 Day and Night Poems 26 The Missouri Bootheel 29 The Experiment 33 Fun at the Fair Riddles 43 Pony Express Mail 47 Traveling Round Missouri Song 52 Dogwood 55 Sonnet to the Gateway Arch 70 Reader Theater A Time Machine 72 A Missouri Timeline 84 I’m from Missouri 89 v
A Missouri Pledge We pledge from the Mississippi deep and wide We pledge cross the north plains too We pledge from the forests of the Ozark hills Missouri we make this pledge to you We pledge to be helpful honest and kind Give respect to each other and our environment too And show through our actions we know what’s best Missouri we make this pledge to you 1
