From Shel Silverstein (1930 –1999), American poet, singer-songwriter, cartoonist, screenwriter, and author of children’s books, Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein (1974):
Magic
Sandra’s seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I’ve had to make myself.
My favorite of his = “Smart” also from “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”
My dad gave me one dollar bill
‘Cause I’m his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes — I guess he didn’t know
That three is more than two
Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just ’cause he can’t see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!
And then I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head —
Too proud of me to speak!
I think that this is one of the fundamental lessons instrumental to qualify as a Federal Reserve Board Member.
Yes, indeed!