Saturday, August 31, 2024

A Rhythmical Literary Piece

I had forgotten about the delightful poem "Ations" by Shel Silverstein until a Facebook friend posted it on their wall.

Ations

If we meet and I say, “Hi,”

That’s a salutation.

If you ask me how I feel,

That’s a consideration.

If we stop and talk a while,

That’s a conversation.

If we understand each other,

That’s a communication.

If we argue, scream, and fight,

That’s an altercation.

If later we apologize,

That’s reconciliation.

If we help each other home.

That’s a cooperation.

And all these actions added up

Make Civilization.

(And if I say this is a wonderful poem,

Is that exaggeration?)

18 comments:

  1. Delightful! Although it took me awhile to catch on to the meaning of the title.

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    1. I felt the same way about the title. As soon as I figured it out everything made sense.

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  2. Love it. My boys had Shel Silverstein’s books. I believe I still have them. Thanks for sharing

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    1. The only one we had was The Giving Tree, but it got a lot of use.

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  3. "-ATION. : the action or process of doing something." There's a lot of processing going on which is needed for a civilization.

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  4. Wonderful poem - what fun he must have had composing it.

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  5. that is great, as is most Shel Silverstein

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  6. What that poem said was just right, not too short and not too long!

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  7. When my Grandmother's vision became so poor, she couldn't read, I would read her Silverstein's poems. Love him. This particular poem should be taught in all Social Studies classes.

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  8. I have never read this poem before... very nice read and much to think about

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    1. I think it's like a lot of literature...easily understandable at first glance, but with some deep undertones.

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