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May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine May your day be filled with sunshine


Shel silverstein is one of my favorite poets. I hope he becomes one of yours as well.


THE LITTLE BOY AND THE OLD MAN A Letter from the Patients of Happy Hills Mental Farm
ALMOST PERFECT The Maple Tree
HOW MANY, HOW MUCH What Does God Expect From Me?
OUTSIDE OR UNDERNEATH The Sunset
Natural Art Love



THE LITTLE BOY AND THE OLD MAN

Said the little boy,"Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the little old man,"I do that too."
The little boy whispered,"I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy,"I often cry."
The old man nodded,"So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seems Grown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.
~ Shel Silverstein




A Letter from the Patients of Happy Hills Mental Farm

Happy Hills is a happy place.
It sits on Happy Street,
With cardboard cows and paper cups that us psychos love to eat.

Great big rooms with padded walls
As far as the eye can see.
We got sent here for suffering from severe insanity.

From high to low the mattresses
Show along the endless white walls.
Insulated light bulbs are the latest tend
So there isn't much light in these halls.

Game pieces and sharp objects are scarce in this happy place.
We haven't been trusted since that last patient played with a can of mace.

Nice young doctor in plain white coats patrol the many halls.
They often have to peel us psychos off the walls.

This place is happy through and through
For the founders are patients too!
If you would like to our facility
Call 1-800-please-help-me!
~ Amanda Lynn Fries



ALMOST PERFECT

"Almost perfect...but not quite."
Those were the words of Mary Hume
At her seventh birthday party,
Looking 'round the ribboned room.
"This tablecloth is pink not white-
Almost perfect...but not quite."

"Almost perfect...but not quite."
Those were the words of grown-up Mary
Talking about her handsome beau,
The one she wasn't gonna marry.
"Sqeezes me a bit too tight-
Almost perfect...but not quite."

"Almost perfect...but not quite."
Those were the words of ol' Miss Hume
Teaching in the seventh grade,
Grading papers in the gloom
Late at night up in her room.
"They never croos their t's just right-
Almost perfect...but not quite."

Ninety-eight the day she died
Complainin' 'bout the spotless floor.
People shook their heads and sighed,
"Guess that she'll like heaven more."
Up went her soul on feathered wings,
Out the door, up out of sight.
Another voice from heaven came-
"Almost perfect...but not quite."
~ Shel Silverstein

This poem can show us so many things. It doesn't do us any good to try to absolutely perfect all the time. It is an honorable thing to strive for perfection but don't let it consume you. We also can never hope to be good enough to get into heaven on our own good deeds. Jesus is luckily our redeeming grace and our only salvation.




Think of butterflies for 5 seconds everyday



The Maple Tree

The poor, barran maple tree
With its fragile, little stems
Where the great, broad leaves used to hang.
They covered the tree in splender and grace,
Giving us shade in the days of the long, hot summer,
And comfort during the cool, breezy nights.
But now the naked, life-giving twigs gently dance in the winter wind.

Behold, now the snow freshly fallen.
It lays so lightly on the tree.
The twigs are frosted with it.
They glitter with a new grace and splender.
~ Amanda Lynn Fries



HOW MANY, HOW MUCH

How many slams in an old screen door?
Depends how loud you shut it.
How many slices in a bread?
Depends how thin you cut it.
How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live 'em.
How much love inside a friend?
Depends how much you give 'em.
~ Shel Silverstein




What Does God Expect from Me?

I wondered one day,
"What does God expect from me,
What am I to do?"
As I chatted on the computer, the question managed to stay.
I met an actor and he wrote to me,
"You are God, do what pleases you."

The next day I went to a concert
Where a singer declared to me,
"There is no God, you're on your own."
I found a leader in the crowd who seemed alert.
After awhile he told me,
"Follow your own path, always be like stone."

I met a Buddhist, a Catholic and a "Christian" later that week.
The Buddhist told me,
"Life is never ending, you will eventually find whatever you seek."
When I asked the Catholic she told me,
"Say your prayers and do a good deed now and then."
The "Christian" said to me,
"Believe in Jesus Christ, the rest are just details, don't sweat them."

The other day I asked a stranger.
She said unto me,
"God is in all things, worship everything in sight."
My friend told me,
"The truth is in the eye of the beholder, do what you feel is right."

I went to ask myself
But myself could find no answer
But the Holy Spirit showed me,
"God expects you to take what you have learned from His word and apply it.
Don't just let it all sit and die,
Let it out and use it!"
~ Amanda Lynn Fries



May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world May you be a light unto this world



OUTSIDE OR UNDERNEATH?

Bob bought a hundred-dollar suit
But couldn't afford any underwear.
Says he, "If your outside looks real good
No one will know what's under there."

Jack bought some hundred-dollar shorts
But wore a suit with rips and tears.
Says he, "It won't matter what people see
As long as I know what's under there."

Tom bought a flute and a box of crayons,
Some bread and cheese and a golden pear.
Asnd as for his suit or his underwear
He doesn't think about them much...or care.
~ Shel Silverstein




The Sunset

I saw the sunset, once again, setting in the falling sky.
I watched it in a most usual way.
I saw it signaling the dying day.
The sun slowly fell into the night, by and by.
The colors changing, fighting, streaming.
Each and every one is screaming.
Each gasping for its breath in turn.
As the sun sinks lower and lower,
Each color fights slower and slower,
Sinking lower and lower,
Until at last...it's gone.
~ Amanda Lynn Fries



Natural Art

Art is all about us, everywhere
Some people never can see the true, extrodinary art of this world.

There is a bit of hazy smog and hideousness blocking our view of the loveliness,
But all that needs to be done is to take a little time to clear all of the ugliness away
Like moving away the dead leaves on the forest floor so you can see the fresh saplings.
But people don't seem to have the time or even the desire to try to search for the marvelous works of God's gracious hands.

God makes the sunrise anew every glorious morning,
And the sunset every mystical dusk.
Our awesome God brings new-sprung and fresh life into this world every moment.
Each new daffodil, pine tree, and fawn brings its own art and grace with it.
Each new thought, movement, and action brought to this earth brings new art into our existence.

~ Amanda Lynn Fries



Love

Love,
What is love?
For most love is just a word,
A word they don't mean.
A word they use to get what they want.
For most love is just an emotion.
An emotion that only lasts a few moments in time.
An emotion that everyone wants but no one can keep.
But to me, love is more,
More than the physical,
More than the moment.
Love is commitment.
Love is caring.
Love is never giving up.
Love is having the faith, the strength, the hope
That no one thought you could.
Love is never being alone because you know that person is always there with you in your heart.

Love makes you a better person
For having it,
For sharing it, with others.
That is what love is.

~ Amanda Lynn Fries






Thank you
All of the poems by Shel Silverstein found on this page can be found along with many others in his book a light in the attic. I encourage you to read this book and some of his others.



As always: Live, Love and Inspire Others to do so.







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