POEM

"The Zebra Question"

by Shel Silverstein

I asked the zebra,

Are you black with white stripes?

Or white with black stripes?

And the zebra asked me,

Are you good with bad habits?

Or are you bad with good habits?

Are you noisy with quiet times?

Or quite with noisy times?

Are you happy with some sad days?

Or are you sad with some happy days?

Are you neat with some sloppy ways?

Or are you sloppy with some neat ways?

And on and on and on and on

And on and on he went.

I'll never ask a zebra

About stripes

Again.

Another version of the poem written by a student:

I asked the zebra 
are you black with white stripes? 
or are you white with black stripes? 
and the zebra asked me, 
Is a magpie bird black with white patches? 
or is it white with black patches? 
Is a lake water with land around it? 
or land with water in it? 
Is an orange, peel with segments in it? 
or segments with peel around it? 
Is an island land with water around it? 
or water with land in it? 
Is the Kilkenny jersey amber with black stripes? 
Or is it black with amber stripes? 
Is the Japanese flag a red circle with white around it? 
Or is it white with a red circle in it? 
And on and on and on and on, 
and on he went. 
I'll never ask a zebra 
about stripes 
Again.