potw: comfortable old chair

Oct 17, 2011

Our poem this week is taken from Climb Into My Lap: First Poems to Read Together. “On Top of Spaghetti” was from this collection also.

I remember reading oodles of books each week while curled up in our tan recliner. I would read and read and read some more. I read so much my mom would say “Why can’t you be normal and watch TV or something?” I still read a lot, to myself and to my children, and I’m still not normal, so nothing has changed all that much.

Reading is an adventure where you get to use your imagination to create something completely yours. The scenery, voices, and characters all come alive in just the way you envision them. I have always been disappointed in movies made from books because the producers never get it right…they don’t use my creations!

Our poem this week pays tribute to that process…enjoy!

Comfortable Old Chair
by Karla Kuskin

A bird has a nest
A fox has a lair
A den is a home
If you’re a bear.
I have a comfortable old chair.

Soft pillowed blue,
A flowered cloud.
The perfect place to read aloud
to myself or silently
letting long words run over me,
letting the stories I have read
make moving pictures in my head.
New chairs are nice
but mine is best.
My spot to think in
brood in
rest
to plot in
dream in, many dreams,
to scheme a few outlandish schemes in.
Kings need crowns to be the king
but me
I can be anything
any person
anywhere
if I just have my book and chair.

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5 Comments

  1. Anne

    I think it was, “Can’t you be like normal kids and watch TV or something?” Sorry about that! I’d like a do-over on so many things . . .

  2. tracy

    That comment certainly doesn’t need a do-over! It has cracked me up for years!

  3. Anne

    I always wonder if it scarred you for life . . .

    • tracy

      Oh, heavens no! It is a point of pride! I could make it through hundreds of books each month and I loved my secret world inside the pages.

  4. Tasha

    I think that comment is a great one. I’m always telling my oldest daughter that she is different. She knows that I love her to death and am happy about the ways that she is different from the norm. I’m sure Tracy feels the same!
    I like this POTW!