Can I Just Have a Sick Day?

As a child, some of my fondest memories I have are snuggling up in bed on a cold night and listening to my mom read me the "funny stories" by Shel Silverstein. I pretty much had those short poems memorized. Looking back to those care-free days, I remember the poem that I always loved my mom to read and thought it was the most funny. Perhaps I liked it so much because I could relate to it...

“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!”

I can remember my mom and I laughing as we acted out the poem. Eventually the two of us had it memorized by heart.

Part of the reason I think this poem was particularly easy for me to memorize was because of the rhyming words that Shel Silverstein uses. The rhyme scheme in this poem help it to flow and roll off the tongue easily. Another reason I was able to memorize this poem so quickly was also because I could and still can totally relate to Peggy Ann McKay. Shel Silverstein did an incredible job of describing exactly what a young child would say/do to not have to go to school.

Silverstein does a great job demonstrating the use of imagery in his poem.

"A gash, a rash, and purple bumps".

This particular line of the poem is just one example of imagery. As the reader, I can physically see a gash, a rash, and I can even imagine purple bumps. "Purple bumps" is terminology a young child would most definitely use to try and get out of going to school.

This is my first year at BYU and I live over 1,600 miles away from home. Needless to say, last semester was a learning curve for me. I can't remember how many times I felt lonely, sad, and homesick. Whenever I was feeling this way, I would read this poem in particular and remember the fond memories I have as a child and my homesickness would begin to dissipate. I am a big fan of Shel Silverstein, and an even bigger fan of Peggy Ann McKay.