Mar 8, 2009

stranger things have happened. as usual.

for whatever reason, i am remembering, fondly, a poetry reading my school held back when i was in 6th grade.

and for those of you keeping track, that was approximately 36 years ago.

dammit.

so - here it is. the poem i had to memorize and recite. i couldn't remember all of it, so i had to resort to Google...but i'm not ashamed.

come on, it was 36 summers and springs ago.

Every Time I Climb a Tree

Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
Every time I climb a tree
I scrape a leg
Or skin a knee
And every time I climb a tree
I find some ants
Or dodge a bee
And get the ants
All over me.

And every time I climb a tree
Where have you been?
They say to me
But don't they know that I am free
Every time I climb a tree?

I like it best
To spot a nest
That has an egg
Or maybe three.

And then I skin
The other leg
But every time I climb a tree
I see a lot of things to see
Swallows rooftops and TV
And all the fields and farms there be
Every time I climb a tree
Though climbing may be good for ants
It isn't awfully good for pants
But still it's pretty good for me
Every time I climb a tree

by David McCord

2 comments:

Dapoppins said...

for some reason...this poem memorizing seems to be important for children to do.


Why?

How has knowing this poem helped your life?

Even something like Keats...or Browning...or such.

I mean...if it is just for memorization sake...isn't marry had a little lamb enough?

Melissa said...

I can still remembers snippets of the poems I had to memorize - Oh Captain, My Captain, Jabberwocky, and The Ride of Paul Revere. I don't quite understand the value of the memorization, and in most cases, everyone in class had to recite in order - so obviously, the last kid in class had a distinct advantage over the first.