Sunday, August 2, 2015

GREENING FROM SHEL SILVERSTEIN







There once was a woman turned green.
Not because she ate green ice cream,
or believed in green ecology, 
but because of her pathology
that made her want to be
Shel Silverstein.


She envied all about him
except his beard, bald head, his male jeans
and some other things that shaded his life
with darkness of velveteen


Her greatest wish was for his knack
of polishing words with laughing shellac
of golden humor swaying forward and back 
making his books land on every one's book rack.


Most of all she resented his presumption
of writing children's books with gumption
tickling their bellies with magical poet-unction
combined with silly scribble-unctions
for their delightful consumption.  


Greener, greener she became,
no need to reveal the name
of jealous woman with green desires
wishing green wishes to inspire
creativity like the artist she admires.









I've been having fun reading some of Shel Silverstein's children's books.  He was an incredible poet, writer, song writer, illustrator.  Who wouldn't envy him?  But envy is unhealthy, so I'll just love and admire him.

(For Poets United.)

20 comments:

  1. One of my favorite poets and author of children's books....I had fun reading your poem...envy is never good, I agree! I do admire him.

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  2. This made me smile, Myrna. I assume the drawings are yours as well. I always liked Shel Silverstein's poetry too. I like the way you emulate it with your verse.

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  3. This is brilliant.. such a great tribute and a noble message at the end :D

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  4. Oh how I enjoyed this smile-inducing poetry and cartoons..........I did a similar one the other day about my Crooked Toe, (dont ask!LOL), but didnt post it.......I absolutely enjoyed this post!!!!!!

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  5. Well done and yes Shel was a great read for and with my children and they are now, passing it on the thiers.
    ZQ

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  6. Love your response Myrna with those drawings and sense of humor ~ I am a little green of your drawings, smiles ~

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  7. Envy is fine as long as it inspires us to try harder. A huge problem when it sours our natures.

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  8. Lots of fun! Which you obviously had too, creating this.

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  9. Light verse is so underrated. In fact, it has a distinguished history of prompting discussion and motivating social change by delving into issues that were often considered "off limits" by mainstream "serious" writers ... to say nothing of the fact that rhyming - done well - is no easy feat. I enjoyed this thoughtful post!

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  10. Lovely drawings. I especially loved the green in envy one. And your poem brought a smile to my face :)

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  11. What a fantastic tribute you have penned here. I know sometimes we struggle with our writing but how good it is to laugh too.

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  12. enjoyable lines in combination with the beautiful sketches...i'm greening :D

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  13. This is fantastic: "his knack
    of polishing words with laughing shellac"
    --the rhythm and the meaning :-)

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  14. O dear green surely does nothing for her, but what fun, with rhymes piece, when i started reading, i thought you were going into the Limerick

    Thanks for dropping in at my Sunday Lime this week

    Much love...

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  15. Perhaps envy is a type of admiration...i loved this mix of image and word..the passion shone through

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  16. Seriously, it was liking reading Silverstein....Love the story you packed into it. Smiles :) Fantastic...

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  17. This was great, Myrna!! I have very fond memories of reading Silverstein :) I loved the 'laughing shellac'. Your poem is brilliant and quite entertaining. Such a joy to read :)

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  18. Great poem about the green monster.

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  19. myrna this is awsome - i just LOVE those sketches and rhymes - i too love about him that he can make people smile - one of the most wonderful things in the world

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  20. Ah! The poem... Words... and the sketch...
    Just perfect :)

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