Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Cool Poem

“We have the nicest garbage man,

He empties out our garbage can.

He’s just as nice as he can be,

He always stops and talks to me.

My mother doesn’t like his smell,

But mother doesn’t know him well.”

President Dahlquist, the General Young Men’s President quoted this neat little poem at a fireside last night. Unfortunately, he didn’t state the author. It sounds like something Shel Silverstein would write. If anybody can confirm or deny this I’d love to give the author credit.

6 comments:

  1. I found this reference

    Prejudice to Acceptance

    James 2:1-13
    Have you ever judged someone merely by his appearance? If so, you are not alone. Peter Marshall, former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, wrote this little poem about misjudging people:
    We have the nicest garbage man. ...
    http://biblicalrecorder.com/content/archives/2002/1_25_2002/index.shtml
    http://www.petermarshallministries.com/about/dr_peter_marshall.cfm
    I can't put the two together for sure though.

    Ray

    ReplyDelete
  2. I found a couple of other people that quoted the poem, attributing it to Peter Marshall, but they didn't cite the reference so like Ray, I'm not sure it's the same guy. It seems very likely though, because the two sources I found were both sermons, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume they'd be quoting a former chaplain of the US Senate, who was none for poetic sermons.

    Also, here's the wikipedia entry for Peter Marshall the Preacher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Marshall_%28preacher%29

    ReplyDelete
  3. I found the Sermon by Peter Marshall for my initial post. But the poem was in quotes and italicized so I felt like he was not taking credit for the poem.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:19 PM

    Peter Marshall is a man I have admired for many years. His sermons are wonderful. He was in Atlanta in the 50's when he met and married his wife. Since his death I have enjoyed her writing very much also.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We must be talking about two different Peter Marshalls. The one I was referencing is still alive and even has several speaking engagements scheduled as far out as Novemeber.
    http://www.petermarshallministries.com/schedule.cfm

    ReplyDelete
  6. this is his son.
    http://www.petermarshallministries.com/about/dr_peter_marshall.cfm

    ReplyDelete