Brothers and Sisters by Lewis Carroll

"SISTER, sister, go to bed!
Go and rest your weary head."
Thus the prudent brother said.

"Do you want a battered hide,
Or scratches to your face applied?"
Thus his sister calm replied.

"Sister, do not raise my wrath.
I'd make you into mutton broth
As easily as kill a moth"

The sister raised her beaming eye
And looked on him indignantly
And sternly answered, "Only try!"

Off to the cook he quickly ran.
"Dear Cook, please lend a frying-pan
To me as quickly as you can."

And wherefore should I lend it you?"
"The reason, Cook, is plain to view.
I wish to make an Irish stew."

"What meat is in that stew to go?"
"My sister'll be the contents!"
"Oh"
"You'll lend the pan to me, Cook?"
"No!"

Moral: Never stew your sister.







This poem is kind of morbid but funny at the same time.  It starts off with the usual sibling bickering going on...but then leads into threats and eventually a stew.  It starts off with the brother telling the sister to go to bed, and the sister refuses.  But, she not only refuses, she responds with a threat to batter his hide and scratch his face if he tries to make her go to bed. These lines remind me of when my brother and I were little and we used to get into the whole "make me" argument...good times. Anyway, the brother responds with a 'go ahead and try...i'll just beat you' kind of reply.  The sister then calls his bluff and dares him to by saying "Only try" which of course, to a boy, means he has to do it.  This form of back and forth dialogue in the poem really helps to demonstrate the innocence of these children, by having them talking back to each other. The brother hastily runs off to the cook and asks him for a pan in which to fry his sister...a request which the cook thankfully denies.  I like this poem because it reminds me of how Killian and I used to be...and sometimes still are.

The Little Boy and the Old Man by Shel Silverstien

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the 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.

 

This is a beautifully simplistic poem.  It reveals to us just how much we go in a full circle over the course of our lifetimes.  The little boy begins to confess things to the old man, and the old man confesses that the same things seem to be happening to him too.  The old man comforts the little boy in this way, and they seem to make a real copnnection in that they share the same 'weaknesses'.  I love this poem because it reminds me of when i used to talk to my Grandma about everything that i was having problems with at the time.  I remember how nice it was to be able to talk to someone.  I like this peom for its simple but powerful mood.