Favourite Poem Project

In my Writer's Craft class, one of our projects was to choose our favourite poem and write about it - what it means to us, what personal connections we have to it, etc. When we were assigned this, I was faced with a dilemma: how can I choose just one poem as my favourite?

I knew the general selection I had to choose from, of course. There was no doubt in my mind that my poem would be from Shel Silverstein's collection of poems Where The Sidewalk Ends. That was the easy part. Choosing which poem was where it got difficult! Would it be "Smart", about a clever little boy who knows two is more than one and thus two quarters must be worth more than one dollar; "One Inch Tall", with one of my favourite lines "[You would] wear a thimble on your head/If you were one inch tall"; "Sick", about a girl with quite the collection of sicknesses preventing her from going to school (including an injured "pendix"); or the story about the stickiest peanut butter sandwich you will probably ever hear about, "Peanut Butter Sandwich"?

It was a tough choice. I finally decided on "Sick" - not only is it incredibly cute, I think it's a good example of why I love Silverstein's poems so much. It's impossible not to feel a smile forming when reading or hearing this poem. Just consider these lines: "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?"

When I think of poetry, of course I can appreciate serious or emotional poems. I'm not going to lie - a lot of the poetry I write is, frankly, depressing. I guess Shel Silverstein's poetry stuck out in my mind for this project because of my personal connection to it. These were some of my favourite poems growing up, and I still chuckle looking at them now! They're funny, they're original, and they're also great examples of poetry - they may be about simple subjects, but they have great rhythm and rhyming. There's a place for serious, moving poetry, but I think there's also a place for light-hearted, happy poetry too. Poetry that makes you laugh! Sometimes, life can be overwhelming, and a smile can do so much. Keeping that in mind, I urge you now to take a breather from your busy life and smile - here's "Sick" to help you out:

SICK

"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!