SAD UNDERWEAR AND OTHER COMPLICATIONS

Viorst has long been known for the kind of verse that reaches even those who never read poetry. She has lost none of her trademark wit in this companion to If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries (Atheneum, 1981), and she still has an unerring sense of the Universal Uncomfortable Experience (``When there's no bathroom—and you gotta go''). Among the knock-knocks and fairy- tale send-ups—``The witch had dinner reservations. / (My brother was the dinner.) / I was the clever person who made her cancel... / So why don't they call this story / `Gretel and Hansel'?''—are poems about homelessness and acid rain, and a wistful poem about what dads do—''Make bookshelves. / Make burgers. / Make money.''- -that ends, ``I wish I still had one.'' Light, but not lightweight, a collection with wide and durable appeal. With b&w page decorations. (index) (Poetry. 7+)