Are You Tired?

Books meant a lot to me as a child (they still do). Roald Dahl, Louis Sachar, Beverly Clearly…the worlds they painted took me away. Perhaps the author most impacting at that age on me was Shel Silverstein. His book Lafcadio: the lion who shot back captured me with its absurdity and wit and remains a favorite. Today I still have two Silverstein books from my childhood in my library. One is Lafcadio and the other is my first copy of A Light in the Attic. Reading through it today I was reminded of a poem that speaks a truth that’s always good to hear.

TIRED by: Shel Silverstein

I've been working so hard you just wouldn't believe,

And I'm tired!

There's so little time and so much to achieve,

And I'm tired!

I've been lying here holding the grass in its place,

Pressing a leaf with the side of my face,

Tasting the applees to see if they're sweet,

Counting the toes on a centipede's feet.

I've been memorizing the shape of that cloud,

Warning the robins to not chirp so loud,

Shooing the butterflies off the tomatoes,

Keeping an eye out for floods and tornadoes.

I've been supervising the work of the ants,

And thinking of pruning the cantaloupe plants,

Timing the sun to see what time it sets,

Calling the fish to swim into my nets,

And I've taken twelve thousand and forty-one breaths,

And I'm TIRED!

? Shel Silverstein