Sick

For my niece Madeline's (Magpie) first birthday, a friend of my sister's gave the gift of poetry. Though Madeline probably won't appreciate the book now, Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends is one of my favorite books of poetry from my childhood.
Immediately after the birthday party (back in August) I raced to the nearest bookstore and purchased a copy for baby Caleb – and for myself. As soon as I got home I flipped hurriedly through the pages to find my favorite childhood poem, Sick. It goes like this...

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!"

Copyright Shel Silverstein

The concept is so simple – a child not wanting to go to school and trying to weasel her way out of it – but yet so creatively carried out. And in almost all of his poems and stories, the author utilizes both smartly told narratives and creative wordplay. I wish any of my wonderful English teachers would have referenced Shel's work to illustrate good technique. It would have been an easy way to learn.

I can vividly remember reading through these poems and my imagination running wild as a child. I wish the same sense of adventure and love of the written word for both Madeline and Caleb.