Linden has Mosquito poem published in Spider Mag

It took about as long to write the poem as it took to come up with the concept, according to 9-year-old Linden Holt.

Mosquito!

You walk down a hill; you sing with thrill,

but the mosquito keeps buzzing and buzzing,

You shout, "Hey!" and you yell, "Go away!"

but the mosquito keeps buzzing and buzzing.

You swat and you swing and you do everything,

but the mosquito keeps buzzing and buzzing.

You hit it hard WHACK and you swat it hard SMACK...

And the mosquito stops buzzing and buzzing!

Linden, currently a student at Hinsdale Elementary, came up with the above poem minutes after finding out that Spider Magazine was seeking poem submissions on the theme of insects. Spider Magazine, for children ages 6 to 9, prints reader's short stories, illustrations, articles, and poems, published a scary story Linden penned last year entitled The Buke Man, so when the bug poem submissions were called for, Linden began buzzing, wrote his latest poem and shortly thereafter, had it printed in the magazine's December issue.

"I remember writing that," Linden said. "Who could forget? They asked to write a poem about a bug and a mosquito is the one I think of because they bite like crazy in the summer, you know?"

Linden said that he doesn't write much poetry and aside from the two that have been published (The Buke Man was about a beech tree that eats people), he can't recall any others he has written.

"Writing poetry is interesting because when you start writing, you get stuck and don't know where to go next," he said. "I think it only took me a couple of minutes to write (Mosquito!)."

Linden said that although poetry may be a part of his future, what he would really like to do in the future is become a test pilot on his way to becoming an astronaut for NASA.

"There is a lot of things up there and not much of it has been found," he said of his aerospace aspirations.

As for storytelling, Linden said he has completed writing two parts of a longer series entitled Smoke Fighter about a spaceship that gets attacked and "a lot of guys get 'gunched' in it", according to the author. Linden said the Smoke Fighter series isn't yet available to readers but said that a book he wrote called The Hero has been published and a copy can be had at the Glasgow Public Library.

"It is a true story," Linden said. "Surprisingly, the hero was me."

Linden didn't want to give any spoilers about the story for those who haven't read it yet but said the story involves falling through thin ice.

"Mom wasn't very happy about it," Linden said of the event that led to the book being written.

Linden is the son of Sierra D. Stoneberg Holt and Jason Holt. When not writing stories or poems, Linden said he enjoys P.E. (sans basketball) art and music classes at Hinsdale Elementary and noted that he is now taller than his older sister, Zora, who is a PCN Correspondent.