Today I found my copies of Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic in the, well,attic, and called the girls over to read. I read these poems over and over again as a child, and I remember the funny ones -- "Sick", and "Lazy Jane", and "How Not to Wash the Dishes". The girls loved "Sick", and Mallory found "Dreadful" hilarious in the way only an older sibling would ("I simply can't imagine who/would go and (burp) eat the baby.") I had forgotten his sad poems, like the one about the long-haired boy, and "Hector the Collector". I had forgotten this one too:
Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me --
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be.
That one is my favorite, now.
Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me --
Anything can happen, child
ANYTHING can be.
That one is my favorite, now.
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