The Poem Sick
by Shel Silverstein

The infamous poem Sick by Shel Silverstein first came to us in 1974 via the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends.

"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. . ."

Peggy goes on and on describing her countless ailments until. . .

. . ."What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is . . .Saturday?
G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

For the full text, you may go here to the Barnes & Noble website and click the "Features" tab underneath the cover photo of the book. Because of copyright we could not provide you with the entire text ourselves.

Just for fun, below is a video we found on teachertube.com of a 1st grade class reciting the poem, "Sick". While for us grown-ups, the performance may get a little slow, I think our kids will enjoy watching and listening other children act out the poem.

To find out more information regarding some of Shel's other poems you can visit our Shel Silverstein Poems page.

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