Got a sliver in my hand An' it hurt t' beat the band, An' got white around it, too; Then the first thing that I knew It was all swelled up, an' Pa Said: "There's no use fussin', Ma, Jes' put on his coat an' hat; Doctor Johnson must see that." I was scared an' yelled, because One time when the doctor was At our house he made me smell Something funny, an' I fell Fast asleep, an' when I woke Seemed like I was goin' t' choke; An' the folks who stood about Said I'd had my tonsils out. An' my throat felt awful sore An' I couldn't eat no more, An' it hurt me when I'd talk, An' they wouldn't let me walk. So when Pa said I must go To the doctor's, I said: "No, I don't want to go to-night, 'Cause my hand will be all right." Pa said: "Take him, Ma," an' so I jes' knew I had t' go. An' the doctor looked an' said: "It is very sore an' red -- Much too sore to touch at all. See that picture on the wall, That one over yonder, Bud, With the old cow in the mud? "Once I owned a cow like that, Jes' as brown an' big an' fat, An' one day I pulled her tail An' she kicked an' knocked the pail Full o' milk clean over me." Then I looked up there t' see His old cow above the couch, An' right then I hollered 'ouch.'" "Bud," says he, "what's wrong with you; Did the old cow kick you, too?" An' he laughed, an' Ma said: "Son, Never mind, now, it's all done." Pretty soon we came away An' my hand's all well to-day. But that's first time that I knew Picture cows could kick at you. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY LIGHT WITH YOURS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TENEBRIS by ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE MEMORY by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR BEAUTIFUL WOMEN by WALT WHITMAN TIPPERARY: 5. BY OUR OWN EUGENE FIELD by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS TO A GIPSY CHILD BY THE SEA-SHORE by MATTHEW ARNOLD |