nearly forgotten cherished memories of my youth
as i was loading the washing machine with a few weeks worth of dirty laundry last night, i looked down to discover an old book of poetry that my father's parents had given me when i was very young. This then reminded me of one of my favorite poets of all time, Shel Silverstein. At one time, i owned copies of a light in the attic
where the sidewalk ends
and the giving tree
I was especially attached to my copy of where the sidewalk ends, because it contained my favorite poem of all time, sick, that i memorized and would recite for whomever would listen.
Sick
by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more-that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke-
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is - what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is...Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
as i searched my bookshelf for my copies of sed books last night, it occured to me that i might have given them to my niece Cristin. now i want them back, but i can't ask for them back, because that is tacky. chances are she no longer has them anyways because she is now a "teenager" and "teenagers" don't keep childrens poetry books. This is how i came to give them to her in the first place, along with other silly acts of adolecence such as putting stickers all over nice furniture and sticking thousands of thumbtacks in the walls to hold up all of the magazine clippings that were so precious to me at age 14.
on a side note, it is stormy and glorious outside. winter in finally here!
where the sidewalk ends and the giving tree I was especially attached to my copy of where the sidewalk ends, because it contained my favorite poem of all time, sick, that i memorized and would recite for whomever would listen.Sick
by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
"I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I've counted sixteen chicken pox
And there's one more-that's seventeen,
And don't you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut, my eyes are blue,
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I'm sure that my left leg is broke-
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button's caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,
My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb,
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,
My temperature is one-o-eight.
My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,
There is a hole inside my ear.
I have a hangnail, and my heart is - what?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is...Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"
as i searched my bookshelf for my copies of sed books last night, it occured to me that i might have given them to my niece Cristin. now i want them back, but i can't ask for them back, because that is tacky. chances are she no longer has them anyways because she is now a "teenager" and "teenagers" don't keep childrens poetry books. This is how i came to give them to her in the first place, along with other silly acts of adolecence such as putting stickers all over nice furniture and sticking thousands of thumbtacks in the walls to hold up all of the magazine clippings that were so precious to me at age 14.
on a side note, it is stormy and glorious outside. winter in finally here!
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