Mich-Muff

I am Michelle Muffett. Ten birthdays have I seen, And every one was really keen.

The kids here in Butte, Montana, where I live, call me Mich-Muff, for short. That sounds kind of weird, but it's better than what they call some of the other kids.

Did you know that Butte is an old town? It started right near a copper mine. A mine is where men found something they wanted, down in the earth, and they dug down to get it. If there is lots of it, they build a town right handy so they can get to work quick and easy. That's the way that lots of towns in the West got started.

Most kids have only one Mom. I have two. One is right here in Butte and one in San Francisco. Once in a while, I get to fly to Salt Lake City and see one of my grandmas there. Then if I am lucky, I can go on to San Francisco and see my other Mom there. She says that she is a supervisor at the airport. She works behind the desks with the people who give you your tickets. I can fly for practically nothing, or less, since my Mom works for the airline.

Talk about flying and airplanes. Some grownups say that kids can dream thing up, like science fiction maybe. What kid would dream of building a big aluminum box, then putting wheels under it and wings alongside? I can see myself there, along with a gob of people. We are all strapped down and waiting. What are we waiting for? You can look out the window, or read a magazine or go to the bathroom. Or, best of all, eat.

I'll think about writing up a poem. My Mom says that I am not too bad on poetry, so I try to write every time I am on an airplane or bus. It is fun to see if you can make the words come out even, and sound the same on the end but different in the beginning. I always have a notebook and a ball-point pen when I ride on a plane.