NICE Words: A Poem for You

When I was growing up, one of my heroes was Shel Silverstein. In fact, The Giving Tree is still my favorite book of all time. So when I was a kid, I'd occasionally pen a goofy poem. They usually involved potty humor or teased my friends. And even as an adult (and I use that term as loosely as possible), I'll get the urge to write up a silly little poem every now and then.

About seven years ago, I wrote this one below. I had posted it publicly a few times...Facebook, my other blog, a design forum. But I thought it might be nice to share with you all, since the theme is kindness. I hope you like it!

{Untitled for now}

Once upon a time, in a faraway world
There lived a kind and beautiful girl
Her name was Michelle and all things in her town
Were a bright, vibrant color, from the sky to the ground

The lampposts were pink, the buildings were blue
All things there had color, the people did too
Some folks they were orange or purple or cream
But most of the people that lived there were green

Michelle, however, was a bright shade of red
From her tippity toes to her toppity head
The strange thing was that in the entire town
Not one other red kid was there to be found

All the greens were alike, they talked the same talk
They laughed the same laugh and they walked the same walk
They sang the same songs, they read the same books
They wore the same clothes and they gave the same looks
Michelle didn't want to be green just like them
But she wished all her life to have just one red friend

The greens wouldn't dare even chat with a red
If they were together, not a word would be said
So Michelle made friends with a pink and a teal
They aren't red, she thought, but at least they are real

At sleep-over parties, when they were in bed
She'd try to color her sleeping friends red
But they'd wake up, laugh, and wash off in the sink
And that's okay, she thought, I like teal and pink

She didn't want them to change, she liked them as them
But she wished all her life to have just one red friend
"Michelle, what's wrong?" her teal friend had said
"I wish," she replied, "to have one friend that's red."

And wished she sure did, everyday and all night
She wished on the stars that would shine on so bright
She wished on all wishbones, and made sure she'd win
She wished on the fountains she threw her coins in

And this year an extra wish she did make
When she blew out the candles on her birthday cake
But days they'd begin and days they would end
And Michelle still couldn't find just one red friend

One sunny day, along with her class
Michelle went outside to have lunch on the grass
She grabbed her red lunch box and red backpack too
When she noticed the lace was untied on her shoe

She knelt on the floor to tie her red lace
When she saw two green feet coming at a quick pace
Before she could rise and move towards the door
WHAM! – a green kid knocked her onto the floor

The green kids were laughing as they walked outside
And Michelle just wanted to run home and hide
But she brushed off her clothes and held her head high
She wouldn’t let any green kids see her cry

So she sat by herself as she always had
At the edge of the school, feeling sadder than sad
She ate her red lunch with red tears in her eyes
When she heard a strange voice she did not recognize

"Hello, I'm new here," the stranger had said
And when she looked up she saw that the young boy was red!
"What that kid did in the hallway was mean
Those kids only care about things that are green

We should love every color we have in this world
Every color of boy, every color of girl
Because inside we're red, orange, purple and blue
We're brown and we're even a little green too
So although on the outside you can tell us apart
On the inside we all have a colorful heart."

I feel like I need something else in there at the end. Maybe something like this:
Michelle was thrilled about the red friend she got
But even more so about the lesson he taught.

I often get the urge to illustrate this story, maybe use Lulu and have a few copies printed for children of friends and family. I always get stuck on the first page and give up though. That might be a good project for when I retire. You know, in 35-40 years. :)