In the swamplands long ago,
Where the weeds and mudglumps grow,
A Yipiyuk bit on my toe ...
Exactly why I do not know.
I kicked and cried and hollered "Oh!"
The Yipiyuk would not let go.
I whispered to him soft and low.
The Yipiyuk would not let go.
Yes, that was sixteen years ago,
And the Yipiyuk still won't let go.
The snow may fall, the winds may blow.
The Yipiyuk will not let go.
I drag him 'round each place I go,
And now my child at last you know
exactly why I walk so slow.

- Shel Silverstein

Eight Balloons

Eight balloons no one was buyin'
All broke loose one afternoon.
Eight balloons with strings a-flyin'
Free to do what they wanted to.
One flew up to touch the sun -- POP!
One thought highways might be fun -- POP!
One took a nap in a cactus pile -- POP!
One stayed to play with a careless child -- POP!
One tried to taste some bacon fryin' -- POP!
One fell in love with a porcupine -- POP!
One looked close in a crocodile's mouth -- POP!
One sat around til his air ran out -- Whoosh!
Eight balloons no one was buyin' --
They broke loose and away they flew,
Free to float and free to fly
And free to pop where they wanted to.

- Shel Silverstein

The One Who Stayed

You should have heard the old men cry,
You should have heard the biddies
When that sad stranger raised his flute
And piped away the kiddies.
Katy, Tommy, Meg and Bob
Followed, skipping gaily,
Red-haried Ruth, my brother Rob,
And little crippled Bailey,
John and Nils and Cousin Claire,
Dancin', spinnin', turnin'
'Cross the hills to God knows where --
They never came returnin'.
'Cross the hills to God knows where
The piper pranced, a leadin'
Each child in Hamlin Town but me,
And I stayed home unheedin'.
My papa says that I was blest
For if that music found me,
I'd be witch-cast like all the rest.
This town grows old around me.
I cannot say I did not hear
That sound so haunting hollow --
I heard, I heard, I heard it clear...
I was afraid to follow.

- Shel Silverstein

Best Mask

They just had a contest for scariest mask,
And I was the wild and daring one
Who won the contest for scariest mask-
And (sob) I'm not even wearing one.

“Have you been to The Land of Happy,
Where everyone's happy all day,
Where they joke and they sing
Of the happiest things,
And everything's jolly and gay?
There's no one unhappy in Happy, There's laughter and smiles galore.
I have been to The Land of Happy -
What a bore!”

- Shel Silverstein

“When the light turns green, you go.
When the light turns red, you stop.
But what do you do when the light turns blue
with orange and lavender spots?”

- Shel Silverstein