WATER PENNIES

From a noted Danish-born poet (d. 1988), a last collection of neatly crafted verse—small poems about small things, mostly insects and the like. With brief lines, deft rhymes and wordplay, and a quizzical sense of humor, Bodecker shares his amused reactions to chance encounters: ``The little/beetle/they call/pill/needs/no vet/when he/is ill./ Whatever shape/you find/him/in,/he is/his own/best medicine.'' Or, to an exasperating fly, ``...Not on my nose,/you nut; not on my finger;/not on my bald spot, numbskull;/leave me be!/I didn't sit on you/when you were sitting./So why on earth should you/now sit on me?'' The 32 poems are perfectly complemented by Blegvad's delicate pen drawings, on almost every page. A pleasure. (Poetry. 6-12)