Tap Dancing on the Roof

In memory of Joe Dobbin, the inimitable Mórdad
—L.S.P.

To all the kids around the world who cannot read!
—I.B.

Clarion Books
a Houghton Mifflin Company imprint
215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003
Text copyright © 2007 by Linda Sue Park
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Istvan Banyai

The illustrations were executed digitally.
The text was set in 12.5-point ITC Century Schoolbook Condensed.

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003.

www.clarionbooks.com

Printed in Singapore.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Park, Linda Sue.
Tap dancing on the roof : sijo (poems) / by Linda Sue Park ; illustrated by Istvan Banyai.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-618-23483-7
ISBN-10: 0-618-23483-7
1. Sijo—United States. 2. Children's poetry, American. I. Banyai, Istvan, ill. II. Title.
PS3566.A6739 T37 2007 811'.54—dc22 2006024901

TWP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Tap Dancing on the Roof

SIJO* (poems) BY
Linda Sue Park

*SIJO = a korean
Form of
Poetry

Pictures By
Istvan Banyai

Clarion Books
New York

About Sijo

All the poems in this book are
sijo.
Sijo is a traditional Korean form of poetry. Like a Japanese
haiku,
a
sijo
is written using a syllabic structure. In its most common form, a sijo in English has three lines, each with fourteen to sixteen syllables. (For a fuller explanation, please see the Author's Note.)

Because the lines can be quite long on the page, sijo in English are sometimes divided into six shorter lines. (Some translators believe that a five-line structure more closely matches the old Korean songs from which sijo evolved.) The sijo in this collection are presented in both the three-line and six-line formats.

Each line in a sijo has a special purpose. The first line introduces the topic. The second line develops the topic further. And the third line always contains some kind of twist—humor or irony, an unexpected image, a pun, or a play on words.

Breakfast

For this meal, people like what they like, the same every morning.
Toast and coffee. Bagel and juice. Cornflakes and milk in a white bowl.

Or—warm, soft, and delicious—a few extra minutes in bed.

Long Division

This number gets a wall and a ceiling. Nice and comfy in there.
But a bunch of other numbers are about to disrupt the peace—
bumping the wall, digging up the cellar, tap dancing on the roof.

School Lunch

Each food plopped by tongs or spatula
into its own little space—
square pizza here, square brownie there;
milk carton cube, rectangle tray.

My snack at home after school?
Anything without corners.

Art Class

Keesha says my fish doesn't look like anything she's ever seen.
"Flowered fins?
Plaid
scales? And the tail—tie-dyed weirdo green?"

In this ocean, I am Queen. That tail, my dear, is aquamarine.