Point of View

I suppose this is a sort of follow-up to yesterday’s post about the robin in the birdbath. There’s a poem by Shel Silverstein that I kept thinking about while I was writing that post, and last night I went up to my room and looked through Where the Sidewalk Ends until I found it. Here it is:

Point of View

Thanksgiving dinner’s sad and thankless

Christmas dinner’s dark and blue

When you stop and try to see it

From the turkey’s point of view.

*

Sunday dinner isn’t sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck

When you see it from the viewpoint

Of a chicken or a duck.

*

Oh how I once loved tuna salad

Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too

Till I stopped and looked at dinner

From the dinner’s point of view.

~Shel Silverstein~

I love Shel Silverstein’s poetry. He’s got such a unique way of looking at things! His poetry manages to be entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. Here’s one more Shel Silverstein poem for you:

Early Bird

Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird

And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.

If you’re a bird, be an early early bird-

But if you’re a worm, sleep late.

~Shel Silverstein~

We always hear the phrase, “The early bird catches the worm,” but what about the worm? I guess you could say, “The early worm gets eaten.” It’s interesting to see things from the worm’s point of view.

I was sitting on the bench in the garden today (once again observing birds), and I saw a cute little robin walking around with two worms in its mouth. It was trying to pull out a third one, but it just couldn’t hold them all in its beak! So when it finally managed to pull the worm out (it was an enormous worm, by the way – almost as long as the robin itself!), it would walk a few steps, drop all its worms, hunt around for them, pick them up, walk a few more steps, drop all its worms…

Robins are such funny little birds. Of course, I could pick on sparrows too, or cardinals. In fact, most birds I can think of look silly at one point or another.

But then again, most people I know look silly at one point or another (myself included)!