Poetry I've enjoyed

I think my favorite poem is The Chipmunk, by Ogden Nash. I'm sure this is some sort of copyright violation, but it goes like this:

My friends all know that I am shy,
But the chipmunk is twice and shy and I.
He moves with flickering indecision
Like stripes across the television.
He's like the shadow of a cloud,
Or Emily Dickinson read aloud.
Yet his ultimate purpose is obvious, very:
To get back to his chipmonastery.

(Interestingly, as I searched the web for this poem, I found many pages on which it was incomplete, missing the last two lines, which, of course, make the poem worth its beans.)

In fact, my 10th/12th grade English teacher once told me that my writing is like a cross between Ogden Nash and Emily Dickinson. However, I don't think I 'get' what I've read of Dickinson.

I like rhymes, like the tombstone epitaphs at the Haunted Mansion:

Here lies good ol' Fred. A great big rock fell on his head.

and

Dear departed brother Dave, He chased a bear into a cave.

I also liked Love That Dog, but I read that as a book about poetry, rather than a book of poetry.

As long as we're talking about childrens' books, I'll say that I usually don't like the ones that rhyme. Madeline gets too singsongy to read aloud. Exceptions are certain Seuss, like Horton Hears a Who:

On the fifteenth day of May, in the jungle of Nool,
In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool,
He was splashing . . . enjoying the jungle's great joys . . .
When Horton the elephant heard a small noise.

So Horton stopped splashing. He looked toward the sound.
"That's funny," thought Horton. "There's no one around."
Then he heard it again! Just a very faint yelp.
As if some tiny person were calling for help.
"I'll help you," said Horton. "But who are you? Where?
He looked and he looked. He could see nothing there
But a small speck of dust blowing past through the air.
. . .

and Silverstein, like The Unicorn:

A long time ago when the earth was green
And there was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen,
And they run around free while the earth was bein' born
And the loveliest of all was the Unicorn.
There was green alligators and long-necked geese.
There was humpy bumpy camels and chimpanzees.
There was catsandratsandelephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the Unicorn.
. . .

I admit that I haven't had much experience with poetry. I think I haven't read any more than what was thrust upon me in school or by kids wanting a bedtime story. :shrug:

So it goes.