LISTEN TO THE MUSTNTS
Listen to the MUSTNTS, child,
Listen to the DONTS
Listen to the SHOULDNTS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONTS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me-
Anything happen, child,
ANYTHING be.
JIMMY JET AND HIS TV SET
Ill tell you the story of Jimmy Jet-
And you know what I telll you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
almost as much as you.
He watched all day, he watched all night
Till he grew pale and lean,
From "The Early Show" to "The Late Late Show"
And all the shows between.
He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,
And his bottom grew into his chair.
And his turned into a tuning dial,
And antennae grew out of his hair.
And his brains turned into TV tubes,
And his face to a TV screeen.
And two knobs saying "VERT" and "HORIZ."
Grew where his ears had been.
And he grelug that looked like a tail
So we plugged in little Jim.
And now instead of him watg TV
We all sit around and watch him.
ERALY BIRD
Oh, if youre a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If youre a bird, be an early early bird-
But if youre a worm, sleep late.
SKY SEASONING
A piece of sky
Broke off and fell
Through the cra the ceiling
Right into my soup,
KERPLOP!
I really must state
That I usually hate
Lentil soup, but I ate
Every drop!
Delicious delicious
(A bit like plaster),
But so delicious, goodness sake-
I could have eaten a lentil-soup lake.
Its amazing the difference
A bit of sky make.
Boa strictor
Oh, Im beien
By a boa strictor,
A boa strictor,
A boa strictor,
Im beien by a boa strictor,
And I dont like it--o.
Well, what do you know?
Its nibblin my toe.
Oh, gee,
Its up to my knee.
Oh my,
Its up to my thigh.
Oh, fiddle,
Its up to my middle.
Oh, heck,
Its up to my neck.
Oh, dread,
Its upmmmmmmmmmmffffffffff . . .
Fotten Language
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I uood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled i at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a versation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joihe g of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
One Inch Tall
Buy Shel Silversteins Poetry
If you were only one inch tall, youd ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a g ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frighteni
If you were one inch tall.
If you were only one inch tall, youd walk beh the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
Youd swing upon a spiders thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.
Youd surf across the kit sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldnt hug your mama, youd just have to hug her thumb.
Youd run from peoples feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen ye