Alan Katz - 101 Donations

101 Donations
by
Alan Katz

If you have prosperity,
it’s nice to give to charity.
A cent,
a buck,
a ten,
a mil.
Give what you can,
give what you will.

If those who have
help those who’ve not,
then those who’ve not
will have a lot.
And if the ones who had then lack,
the ones who got
can give some back.

From POEMS I WROTE WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING (Fall 2012, McElderry Books)

© Alan Katz. All rights reserved.

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As an author, Alan Katz is probably best known for being silly - something he embraces, as his own website calls him "A Silly Dilly Man" in tribute to his books of "silly dilly" songs - but I think of him as funny, clever, generous-of-spirit, and, yes, silly. And today's poem surely shows those middle facets off for all to see, just in case anyone disagreed with me. :-)

I'm quite fond of his picture book, Stalling (illustrated by Elwood H. Smith and which came out last year), and its focus on a kid who is NOT ready for bed and is a master staller. OK, fine... the book rang far too true to me. But getting over that, I realized how well Alan Katz knows kids and how they think and is able to turn that around to make such appealing books and poetry. Just last time, when he gave us Ch-ch-ch-check, Please, I'm thrilled to have Alan Katz here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Earlier we had Haiku for a Jiving Djembe by Bobbi Katz. Tomorrow, ONE LANGUAGE: Listening to Saint-Saens' "The Swan" by Joan Bransfield Graham! For more information on 30 Poets/30 Days and how to follow along, please click here.