On Quiet Feet
By Nikki Grimes
When my dad walks
into a room,
or down
the street,
he inches
up on me
silent
as shadow,
and I don't know
he's there
until I feel
his hug.
Sometimes
when he is
near
I might even
hear
his heart beat—
but never
his quiet
feet.
Copyright Credit: Nikki Grimes, "On Quiet Feet" from A Dime a Dozen. Copyright © by Nikki Grimes. Used by permission of Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
Source: A Dime a Dozen (The Dial Press, 1998)