Wall Marks

Those scratchy marks there on the wall,

They show how short I used to be.

They rise until they get this tall,

And Mama keeps reminding me

The way dad would take his pen

And as I stood there, stiff and straight,

He’d put a ruler on my head

And mark the spot and write the date.

She says that it’s my history,

But I don’t understand at all

Just why she cries each time she sees

Those scratchy marks there on the wall.

~Shel Silverstein