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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COUGHS, by BURGES JOHNSON Poet's Biography First Line: They say little boys Last Line: Where it's safer to let it go off. Subject(s): Boys; Children; Worry; Childhood | |||
They say little boys Who are making a noise Are doing just what you'd expect. But I wish I could cough Without starting folks off— It has a most dreadful effect! I can whistle and call, I can whoop in the hall, I can pound on a pan with a stone,— And the folks might be nice; But if I cough twice Then nobody lets me alone. I can say I'm a bear, I can growl from a lair Or make different sounds in my play, But if air makes me choke, Or I cough for a joke, Why, no one believes what I say. Yet everyone knows That a tickle just grows With maybe no reason but dust; And times when you swallow It sticks in some hollow, And then you must cough or you bust. Though I say what I choose, They all feel of my shoes, Or they tie an old scarf round my chin. I must put on a coat, Or they look down my throat, And tell me I gotta come in. So when grown-ups are there, Why, I always take care, If I'm feeling the start of a cough, And I bury my face; Or I hurry some place Where it's safer to let it go off. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE A BABY AT THE PARTY by BURGES JOHNSON |
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