ATIONS

by Shel Silverstein


If we meet and I say, "Hi,"
That's a salutation.
If you ask me how I feel,
That's consideration.
If we stop and talk awhile,
That's a conversation.
If we understand each other,
That's communication.
If we argue, scream and fight,
That's an altercation.
If later we apologize,
That's reconciliation.
If we help each other home,
That's cooperation.
And all these added up
Make civilization.

(And if I say this is a wonderful poem,
Is that exaggeration?)



from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, 1981, Harper & Row

UNSCRATCHABLE ITCH (Monday Poem)

by Shel Silverstein


There is a spot that you can't scratch
Right between your shoulder blades,
Like an egg that just won't hatch
Here you set and there it stays.
Turn and squirm and try to reach it,
Twist your neck and bend your back,
Hear your elbows creak and crack,
Stretch your fingers, now you bet it's
Going to reach -- no that won't get it--
Hold your breath and stretch and pray,
Only just an inch away,
Worse than a sunbeam you can't catch
Is that one spot that
You can't scratch.



from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, 1981, Harper & Row

SIGNALS (Monday Poem)

by Shel Silverstein


When the light is green you go.
When the light is red you stop.
But what do you do
When the light turns blue
With orange and lavender spots?



from A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, 1981, Harper & Row

EARLY BIRD (Monday Poem)

by Shel Silverstein


Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early bird --
But if you're a worm, sleep later.



from Where the Sidewalk Ends: the poems and drawings of Shel Silverstein, 1974, Harper & Row