The Homework Monster

The Homework Monster

Ate my homework

So I had to do more

It likes science more than math

And history more than English

It wanted me to do

A project on mitochondria

With thorough investigation

And statistics

Because it says

Evidence of my hypothesis

Makes the project

Extra tasty

It ate my Napoleon costume

For Angry World Leader Day

It didn’t eat my backpack

Because it knows

How much I like it

But it did pull out a notebook

And chew on it as a snack

Until I was finished

With my government assignment

Which it ate for dinner

It doesn’t eat my lunch

Or my crackers

So it’s hard to get mad

At the Homework Monster

It’s very cute

With big green and grey eyes

And lots of fur

So that it looks like

My favorite pillow

My mom and dad

Keep asking me

Why my homework

Keeps ending up

Underneath my pillow

And I tell them

Not to lift up

The Homework Monster

Because he doesn’t like

How it tickles

And that makes him

Throw up the homework

And that’s why it looks like

It’s under a pillow

When really, it’s not

The Homework Monster

Makes up for eating my homework

By helping me study

It’s very good

At making flash cards

But it always eats them

Once we’re done

So it’s always making

New index cards

And even then

It’s always hungry

Homework Monsters are known

To eat tests and quizzes if they

A quiz is like a delicacy

And a test is like the best gourmet meal

So I can’t bring

The Homework Monster to school

Which is why when my teacher asks me

To show her this monster

That I keep saying

Is eating my homework

I tell her that I can’t

Because he would eat

All the quizzes and tests

And then we would have

Nothing to do in school all day

When I get home from school

The Homework Monster

Eats the note

From my teacher

Asking to meet with my parents

To talk about
My overactive imagination

The Homework Monster

Says notes from teachers

Are not delicious at all

But he’s happy to help me

Since he’s the one

Who got me into this mess

In the first place

I take him for a walk around the neighborhood

And other kids in other houses

Come outside

And feed him their homework as well

And pretty soon

None of the kids in town

Are doing their homework

Because they’re all too eager

To feed the Homework Monster

And some have even gotten

Homework Monsters of their own

Once every house

Has a homework monster

All the schoolwork

Has to be done at school

And all the kids

Are very happy about it

And truthfully

Though they won’t admit it

So are the teachers

The parents just want to know

Why there are so many pillows

All over the place

Once there’s no more homework

The homework monsters

Decide they like crackers better anyway

But they have to share

Because kids like crackers too

And that’s how the homework monsters

Learned how to share

Which is a strange moral

For this story

But morals do not always appear

Where you think

They will