Tomorrow (Thursday) is "Keep A Poem In Your Pocket" day. It's a day to celebrate poetry. Well, actually the whole month of April is Poetry month but in the school world it gets short-sheeted with spring breaks, state mandated testing and the start of baseball season.
I was thinking of my favorite poems. I still remember the very first poem I ever learned. It was in kindergarten at Lottie Grunsky and I just couldn't learn to whistle. So my teacher taught me the following:
I want to learn to whistle
I've always wanted to
I fix my mouth to do it
But the whistle won't come through
I think perhaps it's stuck
So I try it once again
Can people swallow whistles?
Where is my whistle then?
Not bad, 46 years later I still can remember it. Another poem that means a lot to me is the one that my mom found in the newspaper many years ago. Since then we have had it read at both my parent's funerals, and Tommy's mom's and grandmother's funerals. The author was listed as "Unknown". I really like the sentiment.
Miss Me But Let Me Go
When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free?
Miss me a little - but not too long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me, but let me go
For this a journey that we all must take
And each must go alone
It's all a part of the Master's plan
A step on the road to home
When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss me, but let me go.
A few other favorites are:
My Shadow (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Mending Wall (Robert Frost)
The Owl and the Pussycat (Edward Lear)
So jot down your favorite poem and keep it in your pocket.
