THE SECRET (Monday Poem)

by Leland B. Jacobs

A secret! A secret!
I just heard a secret
And nobody else must hear.
     No talking!
     No telling!
     No whispering!
     No hinting!
Or a secret will disappear.

A secret! A secret!
I just heard a secret!
Must it be kept so well?
     A week?
     An hour?
     A minute?
     A second?
I'm afraid I'm going to tell.



from Is Somewhere Always Far Away? Poems About Places by Leland B. Jacobs, illustrated by Jeff Kaufman, 1993, Henry Holt and Company