Little Einsteins is one of many, many, educational television shows and product lines aimed at toddlers and young children. I don't care much for the cartoon itself, but I am rather fond of the flash card series sold under the confusingly similar Baby Einstein brand. Each card has a picture of something -- say, a wave -- with little innocuous factoids about that thing on the back.
My son doesn't care much for them, but the short facts on each card caught my attention. Mundane as they were, there was something just so . . . poetic about them. So I wrote one.
the ocean moves always
forced to and fro
by wind and currents
she makes waves
high and low
crest and trough
she is water and salt
lots of water
lots of salt
water needed
by all living things
including you and me
water evaporates with the sun
rising on the air like a mist
in a mile-high club of clouds
clouds are just collections
of tiny drops of water, or ice
hanging out high in the air
if a cloud were solid
if you could jump into it
how would it feel?
dark clouds mean rain
storms with bad intentions
but rainbows happen when
light and water meet in the sky
you can’t touch a rainbow
it’s not solid
just water and sunlight
and dreams
below, the beach is where the ocean meets the land
in an age-old dance of waves and bubbles and crabs
writing their timeless music
on the sand of crushed shells
seashells are made by animals
portable homes, stuff on the go
hold a seashell to your ear
what do you hear?
Clearly, Little Einsteins is not one of my favorite shows. If it had been, I wouldn't have confused it with the line of educational products sold under the Baby Einstein brand.
No matter. The words are the same.