The Question on Everyones Mind.

Whatif by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,
some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:
Whatif I’m dumb in school?
Whatif they’ve closed the swimming pool?
Whatif I get beat up?
Whatif there’s poison in my cup?
Whatif I start to cry?
Whatif I get sick and die?
Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?
Whatif I don’t grow talle?
Whatif my head starts getting smaller?
Whatif the fish won’t bite?
Whatif the wind tears up my kite?
Whatif they start a war?
Whatif my parents get divorced?
Whatif the bus is late?
Whatif my teeth don’t grow in straight?
Whatif I tear my pants?
Whatif I never learn to dance?
Everything seems well, and then
the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

I think this is a very comical poem. I absolutely loved reading it. Right off the bat, starting with the second line, the author begins to use literary devices.

‘Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
and pranced and partied all night long
and sang their same old Whatif song:’

The author gives the complex question ‘What If’ human capabilites. He personifies it and uses terms such as crawled, pranced, partied and sang to describe actions that this question cannot do. I like the questions that he asks. There is a mix of serious and funny ones which makes the poem not all one tone. ‘Whatif I flunk that test?’ and ‘Whatif nobody likes me?’ are lines that are more serious. When i read those lines I thought of high schoolers and thoughts they may have as they enter high school for the first time. Those ‘Whatifs’ in the back of their minds. Then the author moves on to some humorous lines such as, ‘Whatif my head starts getting smaller?’ ‘Whatif I tear my pants?’ ‘Whatif I never learn to dance?’ These are just nonsense questions that you don’t really hear many people asking about; or at least not in a serious manner. I found it interesting how the author put the word ‘What if’ as a combined term. I’m not to sure on the reasoning for it, but I found it interesting and I actually like it better like that. The poem tells a story. The author starts off normally, laying in bed and then he begins to think…[what if?] then all these questions are running through his brain and then ‘Everything seems well, and then the nighttime Whatifs strike again!’ It is just something we all can relate to. Everyone wonders ‘What if’ every now and then. What if I did this instead of that? There are a million ‘What ifs’ that people wonder about all the time. The poem is easy to connect to. It is multi-toned in the sense that it does have comedy, but the meaning is deeper and more serious. The meaning is about life and the thoughts and wonders we all think about. There is always something on our minds. Once we think about it, it’s fine, it’s done with…until something else comes to mind.

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