12 Most Popular Poems by Shel Silverstein

  • The Little Boy And The Erstwhile Man

    in Famous Family Poems

    Said the little boy, sometimes I drib my spoon.
    Said the piffling old man, I do that too.
    The petty boy whispered, I wet my pants.
    I do too, laughed the sometime man.

    Said the lilliputian male child, sometimes I drib my spoon.
    Said the picayune old homo, I do that too.
    The little boy whispered, I wet my pants.
    I exercise also, laughed the old man.
    Said the lilliputian boy, I oftentimes cry.
    The quondam human being nodded. So practise I.
    Merely worst of all, said the boy,
    information technology seems grown-ups don't pay attention to me.
    And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old manus.
    I know what you lot mean, said the little quondam man.

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    I tin can relate to the poem "The Little Boy and The Old Human being" by Shel Silverstein. You lot feel invisible, not every bit valuable. No longer as pretty, not of much use. Your income has dwindled, you're no...

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  • Sick

    in Famous Children Poems

    "I cannot get to school today,"
    Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
    "I have the measles and the mumps,
    A gash, a rash and regal bumps.

    "I cannot become to school today,"
    Said fiddling Peggy Ann McKay.
    "I have the measles and the mumps,
    A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
    My mouth is wet, my pharynx is dry,
    I'k going blind in my right eye.
    My tonsils are equally large as rocks,
    I've counted xvi chicken pox
    And there'due south one more--that'south seventeen,
    And don't you lot think my confront looks green?
    My leg is cut--my eyes are blueish--
    It might be instamatic influenza.
    I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
    I'm sure that my left leg is bankrupt--
    My hip hurts when I move my chin,
    My belly button's caving in,
    My dorsum is wrenched, my talocrural joint'due south sprained,
    My 'pendix pains each time it rains.
    My olfactory organ is cold, my toes are numb.
    I have a sliver in my thumb.
    My cervix is strong, my vocalization is weak,
    I hardly whisper when I speak.
    My tongue is filling upwards my mouth,
    I recall my pilus is falling out.
    My elbow'south 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'due south that? What's that yous say?
    You say today is. . .Saturday?
    G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

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    • Poem of the Week

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    A vocalist friend told an audition that when she and her brother tried to ditch schoolhouse, their mother would inquire them to say 'plum jam'. If they really had a cold, they would have given a nasal...

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  • Snowball

    in Famous Children Poems

    I made myself a snowball
    Equally perfect as could be.
    I thought I'd keep it as a pet
    And permit it sleep with me.

    I made myself a snowball
    Equally perfect as could be.
    I thought I'd go along information technology equally a pet
    And permit it sleep with me.
    I made it some pajamas
    And a pillow for its caput.
    Then terminal dark it ran away,
    But beginning it wet the bed.

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    I love the humor, innocence and whimsy of this poem. But there'south more hither than meets the middle. If you look a bit deeper, yous can see how we sometimes don't properly interpret our experiences,...

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  • Hug O' War

    in Famous Friendship Poems

    I volition not play at tug o' state of war.
    I'd rather play at hug o' war,
    Where everyone hugs
    Instead of tugs,

    I volition non play at tug o' war.
    I'd rather play at hug o' war,
    Where everyone hugs
    Instead of tugs,
    Where everyone giggles
    And rolls on the rug,
    Where everyone kisses,
    And everyone grins,
    And everyone cuddles,
    And everyone wins

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    Thanks for the elementary but profound poem. I am a bus commuter and I strive to be the open up middle and guide for my children who ride with me. It is not ever easy to hear what they accept to say or...

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  • Underface

    in Famous Children Poems

    Picture

    Underneath my outside face
    There's a confront that none can see.
    A footling less smiley,
    A little less certain,

    Underneath my outside face
    In that location's a face that none can see.
    A little less smiley,
    A picayune less certain,
    But a whole lot more like me

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    What a perfect poem! At times nosotros could basically tell how people were feeling despite their facial expressions. It was in their optics the tell- tale signs that led us to meet at least the...

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  • Messy Room

    in Famous Funny Poems

    Whosever room this is should be aback!
    His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
    His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
    And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.

    Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
    His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
    His raincoat is at that place in the overstuffed chair,
    And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
    His workbook is wedged in the window,
    His sweater'due south been thrown on the floor.
    His scarf and one ski are beneath the Television,
    And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
    His books are all jammed in the cupboard,
    His belong has been left in the hall.
    A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed,
    And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall.
    Whosever room this is should be aback!
    Donald or Robert or Willie or--
    Huh? You say it'south mine? Oh, love,
    I knew it looked familiar!

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  • Muddy Face up

    in Famous Children Poems

    Where did y'all go such a dirty face,
    My darling dirty-faced child?
    I got information technology from crawling along in the dirt
    And biting two buttons off Jeremy's shirt.

    Where did you go such a dirty face up,
    My darling dirty-faced child?
    I got it from crawling along in the clay
    And biting two buttons off Jeremy's shirt.
    I got information technology from chewing the roots of a rose
    And digging for clams in the thou with my nose.
    I got it from peeking into a dark cave
    And painting myself similar a Navajo dauntless.
    I got it from playing with coal in the bin
    And signing my name in cement with my chin.
    I got if from rolling around on the carpeting
    And giving the horrible dog a large hug.
    I got it from finding a lost silver mine
    And eating sweet blackberries right off the vine.
    I got information technology from ice foam and wrestling and tears
    And from having more fun than y'all've had in years.

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    So cute!! Like the spaghetti, chocolate, ice-foam. Information technology'due south the kids that become the dirtiest, that have the most fun. It's a lifetime of adventure and silliness that they will remember forever....

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  • Listen To The MUSTN'TS

    in Famous Children Poems

    Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
    Heed to the DON'TS
    Heed to the SHOULDN'TS
    The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONT'S

    Listen to the MUSTN'TS, kid,
    Listen to the DON'TS
    Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
    The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONT'S
    Mind to the NEVER HAVES
    Then listen shut to me-
    Anything can happen, kid,
    Anything can exist

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    • Poem of the Day

  • A Male child Named Sue

    in Famous Funny Poems

    Well, my daddy left dwelling when I was iii,
    and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
    just this former guitar and a bottle of booze.
    At present I don't blame him because he run and hid,

    Well, my daddy left home when I was three,
    and he didn't leave much to Ma and me,
    just this old guitar and a bottle of booze.
    Now I don't blame him because he run and hid,
    but the meanest affair that he ever did was
    earlier he left he went and named me Sue.

    Well, he must have thought it was quite a joke,
    and it got lots of laughs from a lot of folks,
    it seems I had to fight my whole life through.
    Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
    and some guy would laugh and I'd bosom his head,
    I tell you, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue.

    Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean.
    My fist got hard and my wits got not bad.
    Roamed from town to town to hibernate my shame,
    only I made me a vow to the moon and the stars,
    I'd search the honky tonks and bars and kill
    that man that gave me that awful name.

    But it was Gatlinburg in mid July and I had
    but hit boondocks and my throat was dry.
    I'd idea i'd stop and accept myself a mash.
    At an quondam saloon in a street of mud
    and at a table dealing stud sat the dirty,
    mangy dog that named me Sue.

    Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
    from a worn-out picture that my mother had
    and I knew the scar on his cheek and his evil eye.
    He was big and aptitude and gray and old
    and I looked at him and my claret ran cold,
    and I said, "My proper noun is Sue. How do y'all exercise?
    Now you're gonna die." Yep, that's what I told him.

    Well, I hit him right betwixt the optics and he went down
    but to my surprise he came up with a pocketknife
    and cut off a piece of my ear. But I busted a chair
    correct beyond his teeth. And nosotros crashed through
    the wall and into the street kicking and a-gouging
    in the mud and the blood and the beer.

    I tell you I've fought tougher men simply I really tin can't recall when.
    He kicked similar a mule and bit like a crocodile.
    I heard him laughin' and so I heard him cussin',
    he went for his gun and I pulled mine start.
    He stood at that place looking at me and I saw him grinning.

    And he said, "Son, this world is rough and if
    a man's gonna brand it, he's gotta be tough
    and I knew I wouldn't be in that location to help you along.
    So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
    I knew you'd have to get tough or die. And it's
    that name that helped to make you lot strong."

    Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought i
    helluva fight, and I know yous hate me and yous've
    got the correct to impale me now and I wouldn't arraign you
    if you practise. But you lot ought to thank me
    before I die for the gravel in your guts and the spit
    in your heart because I'thousand the guy that named yous Sue."
    Yeah, what could I do? What could I practice?

    I got all choked up and I threw downwards my gun,
    called him pa and he called me a son,
    and I came away with a different point of view
    and I think about him at present so.
    Every fourth dimension I tried, every time I win and if I
    always have a son I think I am gonna name him
    Nib or George - annihilation but Sue.

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    Johnny Greenbacks was the right person to sing these lyrics. He made an interesting song from an awesome poem. Very entertaining. Dearest information technology!
    Jac. Judy A. Campbell

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  • Paul Bunyan

    in Famous Narrative Poems

    He rode through the woods on a big blueish ox,
    He had fists as hard as choppin' blocks,
    Five hundred pounds and nine anxiety tall...that's Paul.

    He rode through the woods on a big blue ox,
    He had fists as hard as choppin' blocks,
    Five hundred pounds and ix feet alpine...that'southward Paul.

    Talk almost workin', when he swung his axe
    You could hear information technology ring for a mile and a half.
    Then he'd yell "Timber!" and downwardly she'd fall...for Paul.

    Talk about drinkin', that man's so mean
    That he'd never drink nothin' merely kerosene,
    And a five-gallon tin is a fiddling bit small...for Paul.

    Talk about tough, well he in one case had a fight
    With a thunderstorm on a cold dark night.
    I ain't sayin' who won,
    But information technology don't tempest at all...round here...thanks to Paul.

    He was ninety years one-time when he said with a sigh,
    "I think I'm gonna lay right down and die
    'Cause sunshine and sorrow, I've seen it all...says Paul.

    He says, "There ain't no man live can kill me,
    Ain't no woman 'round tin can thrill me,
    And I think heaven just mught be a ball"...says Paul.

    Then he died...and we cried.

    It took eighteen men merely to bust the ground,
    It took xx-iv more but to lower him downwards.
    And nosotros covered him up and we figured that was all...for Paul.

    But late one night the trees started shakin',
    The dogs started howlin' and the earth started quakin',
    And out of the footing with a "Hi, y'all"...comes Paul!

    He shook the clay from off his clothes,
    He scratched his butt and wiped his nose.
    "Y'know, bein' dead wasn't no fun at all"...says Paul.

    He says, "Up in heaven they got harps on their knees,
    They got clouds and wings but they got no copse.
    I don't call up that'due south much of a heaven at all"...says Paul.

    And so he jumps on his ox with a fare-thee-well,
    He says, "I'll find out if at that place's trees in hell."
    And he rode abroad, and that was all...we ever seen...of Paul.

    Simply the next fourth dimension you hear a "Timber!" yell
    That sounds similar information technology's comin' from the pits of hell,
    Then a weird and devilish ghostly wail
    Like somebody's choppin' on the devil's tail,
    And then a shout, a call, a crash, a fall--
    That ain't no mortal man at all...that's Paul!

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    • Poem of the Week

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    This poem is hands identifiable every bit a archetype, and information technology contains facts and emotions we all share throughout life at some fourth dimension or other. Great reading and a great share. Well worth existent...

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