Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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I Wonder

I wonder why we call bats “bats”—
why do we call them that?
I wonder why little kids burp
and crickets chirp
and why snow is in the winter.
Speaking of snow,
why is it called snow and not sand?
Why is music sometimes called a band?
And
why do people walk on land?
And why do they die
or cry
or get mad
or sad?Why are we the ones that can talk
and the ones that have technology?

Why aren’t hedgehogs a sophisticated species?
Why do spiders give you the creepies?
It doesn’t seem right to me,
why the world is this way.
I think the world should be different
but I can’t make hedgehogs talk
or fish walk.
So I think that I will just
burrow under the earth
inspect the workings of the world
and see what makes
the world this messed-up way.
But I kind of like the world this way—
just a little.
So I will stay
here where I am
and watch the flow.

Sterling Waterfield I Wonder
Sterling Waterfield, 11
Fort Wayne, IN