Tribute to Shel Silverstein

If your reaction to the title of this post was, "who the hell is Shel Silverstein??" then I'm sorry to say but you have had a very deprived childhood. Shel Silverstein was one of the most influential writers in my life. His poetry was quirky, funny and so perfect for kids. He was like a grown up, slightly more normal version of Dr. Seuss.  I think it's safe to say that my (peculiar?) personality was shaped by Shel Silverstein poems such as the following:

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! '
-Sick, by Shel Silverstein, courtesy of PoemHunter.com


or


"A genuine anteater,"
The pet man told me dad.
Turned out, it was an aunt eater,
And now my uncle's mad!
-The Anteater, by Shel Silverstein




Ah, dear Shel. How I wish I were 10 again.