Thursday, January 31, 2008

"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!"

Ah, Uncle Shelby. If only I didn't actually have all these symptoms...

10 cat calls:

Kim said...

I hope you feel better! And I hope you're not actually still sick on Saturday, because wasting a weekend being sick is the devil's playground.

Megs said...

This is one of the few poems I have committed to memory. I love Shel Silverstein. We used to read the poems to our parents on car trips.

penelope said...

OMG, are you really that sick? It's not mono, is it...

I love Shel Silverstein as well, and remember maybe in third grade each picking a poem of his to remember and recite. He's so fun.

ashley said...

No, I don't think it's mono. But I do seem to have a cold in MY EYE which is necessitating A) a trip to the doctor and B) me to wear MY GLASSES at work.

Oh, and the belly button caving in is also pretty awful.

(And lastly...I too memorizing a Shel poem (he's my hero) around 3rd grade. I selected "18 Flavors.")

Kurt said...

Kids love Shel Silverstein.

laura said...

at times my mother used to burst into quoting this exact poem when i would complain about having to go to school. i am my mother- i quoted it to beth last week when we were both sick. but her reply was (as most homeschoolers say) "I am sick and ALREADY at school!"- so i didn't do a whole lot of teaching, but still we read a lot. i actually have this on a tape- the whole book, read by shel himself and in the middle an ambulance siren starts to sound, and is quite loud by the time he says WHAT? WHAT?- then the ambulance sound stops. it's quite a laugh! do get to feeling better though, my dear

hat said...

'Tis Sunday... are you feeling better yet or still sick? Shall I send over two cookies and call you in the morning???

I hope you get well soon, my dear!

jenn said...

I'm right there with you. I officially have the virus from hell. Blah.

mendacious said...

okay- but what about the austen series on tv currently- sure it's not perfect and they're more like appetizers to the real thing- but that biopic left me all sorts of sad- but then oddly free...

pshaw being single in this day and age is nothing! i felt so horrible for jane.

i love shel silverstein. i am off to play right now and it's a monday.

ashley said...

M - I missed it last night! I was in the car. But I enjoyed Mansfield Park v. much. Have a saved blog about it...