Sean+Force

Sean Force's Poetry Portfolio

"Poetry is like making a joke. If you get one word wrong at the end of a joke, you've lost the whole thing" - William Stanley Merwin

Three Poems by Shel Silverstein

__Toy Eater__ You don’t have to pick up your toys, okay? You can leave ‘em right there on the floor, So tonight when the Terrible Toy-Eatin’ Tookle Comes tiptoeing’ in through the crack in the door, He’ll crunch all your soldiers, he’ll munch on your trucks, He’ll chew your poor puppets to shreds, He’ll swallow your Big Wheel and slurp up your paints And bite off your dear dollies’ heads. Then he’ll wipe off his lips with the sails of your ship, And making a bur pity noise, He’ll slither away-- but hey, that’s okay, You don’t have to pick up your toys.

Analysis #1 __ The Toy Eater __ by Shel Silverstein The author’s use of an indifferent tone though out the poem give the effect of making it feel like it really is real and that this just happened to be one of three situations; either something that the author told to his child and then wrote it down, or as if it was something that he just heard someone say in passing, or finally something that he himself was told at one point or another in his life. One place that executes this in deferent tone pretty well could be the last three lines, “And making a bur pity noise, he’ll slither away-- but hey, that’s okay, you don’t have to pick up your toys.” It just kind of says that you can do whatever and this monster will do horrible things to your toys, but that it is just an overall kind of “whatever” for the passage. This is a pretty informal poem, one reason for this probably could be to make it seem more like it is in fact an adult talking to a child about the consequences of leaving your toys all over the floor instead of cleaning them up. It make the reader feel as though they are the child that is being told to clean up their toys. While the entirety of the poem suggests a rather indifferent tone as the adult is trying to sound casual most likely so as to make the child listen, it also seems that the poem has some underlying tones of sarcasm and earnestness in that the adult is trying to be earnest and really mean what they are saying but just can’t help making it be very sarcastic.

__If the world was crazy__ If the world was crazy, you know what I'd eat? A big slice of soup and a whole quart of meat, A lemonade sandwich, and then I might try Some roasted ice cream or a bicycle pie, A nice notebook salad, an underwear roast, An omelet of hats and some crisp cardboard toast, A thick malted milk made from pencils and daisies, And that's what I'd eat if the world was crazy.

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd wear? A chocolate suit and a tie of eclair, Some marshmallow earmuffs, some licorice shoes, And I'd read a paper of peppermint news. I'd call the boys "Suzy" and I'd call the girls "Harry," I'd talk through my ears, and I always would carry A paper umbrella for when it grew hazy To keep in the rain, if the world was crazy.

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd do? I'd walk on the ocean and swim in my shoe, I'd fly through the ground and I'd skip through the air, I'd run down the bathtub and bathe on the stair. When I met somebody I'd say "G'bye, Joe," And when I was leaving--then I'd say "Hello." And the greatest of men would be silly and lazy So I would be king...if the world was crazy.

Analysis #2 __ If the world was crazy __ by Shel Silverstein

The authors use of rhymes and informal language has the effect of making the reader feel as though they are a friend of his and that the two of them are just discussing their daily ponderings. The writing is very informal in the entirety of the poem, especially in places such as those where he write’s things like “When I met somebody I'd say ‘G’bye, Joe,’ And when I was leaving--then I'd say ‘Hello.’ ” in which he has the quotes for when he would say something. It sounds kind of like he was just talking to a friend or something while saying this which makes the reader feel very comfortable and lets them sink into the poem and helps it flow more smoothly. The poem has a bit of an alternation rhyme to it with the Rhymes go like AABBCC at the end of each line with an occasional internal rhyme but not something that happens all that often. This poem also uses a whole mix of different tones to help make the reader feel at home. There is a jubilant, sarcastic, wishful, and sorrowful tone at different points in the poem. There is a noticeable tone of jubilance though out the whole poem in the way that the poet sounds as if these are things that they would like to do if they could so at the same time that also throws in the air of wishfulness because the author wishes that this was all true so that he could do these things. The sorrowful tone comes into play around that point as well because the poet realizes that, unfortunately, this is not really true, so he cannot do all of these wondrous things.

__Sick__ "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!"

Analysis #3 __ Sick __ by Shel Silverstein

The authors use of informal language and the spastic and quick natured speech has the effect of really capturing the child’s feelings and how they really don’t want to have to go out. One place in particular that shows this well would be in about the middle, “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.” The child rattles off 5 different areas of the body in just one sentence not giving the adult that they are talking to a chance to respond much like many children do. They are usually about 7 syllables long more or less. The line breaks help to make it flow and also make it sound a bit more like a kid is talking and then just rambling on about how they really can’t go to school today. I think that they also make it a bit funnier too. The language that is used is not very formal, probably because it’s supposed to be in the voice of a child not an adult that doesn’t want to go to work or something. Like the last one it kind of make you feel as though you’re siting there talking to the child as if you are the parental figure that they are complaining to. The poem seems as if even though the child is trying to be extremely earnest and does partially succeed in this it still sounds rather sarcastic. It also sounds a little bit resentful that the adult doesn’t seem to be believing the child about their maladies and at the end it seems to be somewhat jubilant as the child discovers that it’s Saturday and the goes off to play.


 * __My Poetry__**

__My Ode__ Childhood, We played the sun We have so much fun, No worries, no cares Our parents would carry us up the stairs, Into our beds, We dream all night Back then, there were no homework fights, Remember those days? Of Childhood, There was no homework Choosing its home, in our bags, to lurk, Our backpacks were light, If we had them at all We’d throw them down and then have a ball, We’d swing, we’d slide, Happy with glee Our parents would try and round us up as we ran, noisily, We used our imaginations o’ what fun To gallop across the blazing sun, The dinosaurs they would a-roar And we watched the birds begin to soar, We read books large and small and with our imagination they came alive We never broke out in hives From reports that had to be completed O’ how we long for those glorious days, The days of past, The days when we could, Those wonderful days of childhood.

__My Sonnet__ Away we shall flee, to a place of new, A place that is free, where we can all have... It is a place for more then just a few, If someone is heading then take first ave. Contained here in this place is what you dream, The place that you go to finish the day, To get to this place you don't need to scheme, If you want, come to this place just to play, Escape with us to the place that we go, Don't try to go too fast just slow on down, Have we convinced you yet? Well if so... Then stop looking around it's not in town, Imagination is one of a kind, But I guess that's why it's all in your mind.

__My "I was raised by"__ I was raised by Old fashioned Very involved Always there Caring Kind of Parents "Go to sleep now or you'll be tired in the morning" "You're too young to watch the simpsons" Over watching Kind of Parents Prying into Concerned Understading "How was your day?" Kind of Parents

Insainly annoying <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Sometimes funny <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Always prying into <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Matters that don't need it <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Kind of Younger Brother <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">I was raised by my Family

__My Original Poem (A Nonet)__

Violets

Roses are red, Violets are purple, For some reason we think they're blue, It doesn't make sense, it gives clues As to the color right in It's name, violet. Well? Why is that we call The poor thing blue. Is it sad? Nonsense. Why?

__My Artist's Statement__

When I write poetry I like to try and follow some type of rhyming pattern although i don’t usually end up making it work so well. I also like to try and have short, quick lines to keep the poem moving kind of like Shel Silverstein does in a lot of the poems that I have read by him. I also like to try and use what some people would consider to be fancier words and I don’t like to usually repeat them when I can. I tend to write more of the shorter types of poems like haikus or nonets, because I think that they many other types can just start to drag out and get to boring for people.