On shallow straw, in shadeless glass, <br />Huddled by empty bowls, they sleep: <br />No dark, no dam, no earth, no grass - <br />Mam, get us one of them to keep. <br /> <br />Living toys are something novel, <br />But it soon wears off somehow. <br />Fetch the shoebox, fetch the shovel - <br />Mam, we're playing funerals now.<br /><br />Philip Larkin<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/take-one-home-for-the-kiddies/
