by Anna Grossnickle Hines
My sister and I were fighting.
We couldn't get along.
She said I moved her game piece.
I said she was wrong.
She said I was stupid.
I said she was worse
and made a nasty face at her.
She let out a curse.
Mom said, "Stop this bickering
before it comes to blows."
She made us stand together
touching nose to nose.
"How long?" we asked; she answered,
"We'll just see how it goes."
We stood there looking cross-eyed
at our noses touching tips
and feeling rather silly
while pinching up our lips
to try to stop the giggles---
mine started in my toes.
It's hard to keep on fighting
when you're touching nose to nose.
from Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts About Peace
by Anna Grossnickle Hines, Henry Holt, 2011
