Sick
By Shel Silverstein, 1930 - 1999
Read by Sarah Christensen 

 “I cannot go to school today,"
Said little Peggy Ann McKay.
“I have the measles and the mumps,
A gash, a rash and purple bumps.
My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I’m going blind in my right eye.
My tonsils are as big as rocks,
I’ve counted sixteen chicken pox
And there’s one more--that’s seventeen,
And don’t you think my face looks green?
My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--
It might be instamatic flu.
I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,
I’m sure that my left leg is broke--
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
I have a sliver in my thumb.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
My tongue is filling up my mouth,
I think my hair is falling out.
My elbow’s 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’s that? What’s that you say?
You say today is. . .Saturday?
G’bye, I’m going out to play!”

Sick By Shel Silverstein, Read By Sarah Christensen

POEMS FROM--- GATHERING THE SUN WRITTEN BY ALMA FLOR ADA. READ IN SPANISH AND IN ENGLISH BY HAROLD LITTLEJOHN. 

Orgullo And Pride Written By Alma Flor Ada Read By Harold Littlejohn

THIS POEM IS A EULOGY WRITTEN AND READ BY DANIEL C. TAYLOR 

A Light - -- Bright As Hers - -- Stil, Continues To Shine By Daniel C. Taylor

Oh I Want to Be a Great Big Dinosaur
(to the tune of: "I Wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener")

Oh I want to be a great big dinosaur,
That is what I really want to be!
For if I were a great big dinosaur,
Everyone would run away from me. . .
Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Additional Verses:
stomp away from me
crawl away from me
slither away from me


I Want To Be A Great Big Dinosaur, Read By Lorenzo - Dinosaur Club

American Kestrel
Falco Sparverius Cinnamominus

High noon opened up:
the sun in the center, crowned.

The earth awaited indecisively
some movement in the sky
and everyone remained
indecipherably still.

At that slender second
the hawk hammered its flight,
cut loose from the firmament,
and swooped like a sudden shiver.

The landscape remained serene
and the woodlands were not
frightened,
the volcanoes were still aloof,
the river kept proclaiming 
its abrupt and wet lineage:
everything kept throbbing
in that green-pattered pause
except a hare, a bird,
something that flew or ran,
something that used to live
on that blood-splattered spot.

American Kestrel By Pablo Neruda Read By Dale Kerbs

Annabel Lee
By Edgar Allen Poe 

 It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
   By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
   In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love--
   I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
   My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
   And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
   Went envying her and me--
Yes!--that was the reason (as all men know,
   In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
   Of those who were older than we--
   Of many far wiser than we--
And neither the angels in heaven above,
   Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling--my darling--my life and my bride,
   In her sepulchre there by the sea,
   In her tomb by the sounding sea.


Annabel Lee By Edgar Allen Poe Read By Briana Mark

CROOKED CARDS FROM CLOUD-MOODS WRITTEN BY JENNA V OWNBEY READ BY SHAUN MCDONALD 

Crooked Cards By Jenna V. Ownbey Read By Shaun McDonald

Hug O'War
By Shel Silverstein

I will not 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. 

Hug O' War By Shel Silverstein, Read By Karina Gonzalez

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT WRITTEN IN THE 19TH CENTURY BY JOHN GODFREY SAXE MODIFIED IN THE 20TH CENTURY BY DANIEL C. TAYLOR.

The Blind Men And The Elephant By John Godfrey Saxe Modified By Daniel C. Taylor

Introduction To Podcast

This podcast has originally been created by the North Branch Library Staff with Amarillo Public Library in honor of National Poetry Month.  Recordings of patrons reading poems will be uploaded for all who are interested in listening. (Inspired by the Poetry Foundation's Record-a-Poem project).We hope listeners will enjoy this experience and be inspired to discover literature that speaks to them.  

Starting April 1, those in Amarillo who are interested in contributing should stop by the North Branch Library at anytime throughout the month of April to record a poem.  You may bring a poem of your own to read or we will have a selection for you to choose from.  Hope to see you!
