another unexpected proud moment

the theme for January's book report at school was poetry. Brandon had to find five poems at least four lines long, write or type them out, and then embellish each page according to the poem's topic. in addition, he had to memorize one of the poems to present to the class. i helped him find one about the 2nd week of the month, one evening when we were looking through one of our Shel Silverstein books. the boys thought it was GREAT. had me re-read it a few times. Brandon instantly (well, almost) chose it as the one to memorize. he did pretty well working on it; he probably had it memorized (not quite 100% perfectly) at least a week before it was due. the day came, and i found out after he came home from school that his poem won 2nd place! i guess the class members voted on which one they liked best--content and presentation. he missed 1st place by one vote! the 3rd-7th grade poetry assembly was going to be held that Friday, but as far as he knew, just the first place winners would recite their poems at that function. then on Thursday, Brandon brought home a note from his teacher saying he'd be reciting his at the assembly. though i wasn't feeling good on Friday (the 30th), i went. and Peter was able to go too; he had the day off from work. i should say here that one of the pities of the boys' school's minimal funds is their lack of quality sound system. they have basically a karaoke machine. and unfortunately, during many of the kids' recitations, the microphone cut out off and on or all together. luckily, it worked just fine while Brandon recited his poem! i was quite impressed with him!! for those of you who don't know, B has suffered from extreme shyness. he has gradually gotten better as he's gotten older, but he still has his moments. i nearly beamed as i watched him...!
here's the poem for your reading enjoyment...

Poemsicle By Shel Silverstein

If you add sicle to your pop,
Would he become a Popsicle?

Would a mop become a mopsicle?

Would a cop become a copsicle?

Would a chop become a chopsicle?
Would a drop become a dropsicle?
Would a hop become a hopsicle?
I guess its time to stopsicle,
Or is it timesicle to stopsicle?
Heysicle, I can't stopsicle.
Ohsicle mysicle willsicle Isicle havesicle tosicle talksicle likesicle thissicle foreversicle--
Huhsicle?