Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out 
Composer(s): Shel Silverstein
Performer(s): Shel Silverstein



Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans
Candy the yams and spice the hams
And though her daddy would scream and shout
She simply would not take the garbage out
And so it piled up to the ceilings
Coffee grounds, potato peelings
Brown bananas, rotten peas
Chunks of sour cottage cheese
It filled the can, it covered the floor
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones
Drippy ends of ice cream cones
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel
Gloopy glumps of cold oatmeal
Pizza crusts and withered greens
Soggy beans and tangerines
Crusts of black burned buttered toast
Gristly bits of beefy roasts...
The garbage rolled on down the hall
It raised the roof, it broke the wall...
Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs
Globs of gooey bubble gum
Cellophane from green baloney
Rubbery blubbery macaroni
Peanut butter, caked and dry
Curdled milk and crusts of pie
Moldy melons, dried-up mustard
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard
Cold French fries and rancid meat
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky
And all the neighbors moved away
And none of her friends would come to play
And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said
"OK, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course, it was too late...
The garbage reached across the state
From New York to the Golden Gate
And there, in the garbage she did hate
Poor Sarah met an awful fate
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late
But children, remember Sarah Stout
And always take the garbage out!