Shel Silverstein

Rotten Convention

Rotten Convention - meaning Summary

Grotesque, Comic Gathering

This short, humorous poem catalogs a grotesque cast of caricatured villains at a “Rotten Convention.” The speaker and others exchange exaggerated names and bad tales, turning the gathering into a game of mutual insult and social mockery. The playful listing builds a communal ritual of blaming and shaming, and the closing question flips the focus on the absent listener, suggesting complicity or exclusion amid the laughter.

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They had a Rotten Convention And everyone was there: Hamburger Face and Gruesome Grace And the Skull with the slimy hair. There was Mr. Mud and the Creepin' Crud And the Drooler and Belchin' Bob, There was Three-Headed Ann- - she was holdin' hands With the Whimperin' Simperin Slob. The Unpronounceable Name, he came, And so did Saw-Nose Dan And Poopin' Pete and Smelly Feet And the Half-Invisible Man. There was Sudden Death and Sweat-Sock Breath, Big Barf and the Deadly Bore, And Killin' Dillon and other villains We'd never seen before. And we all sat around and told bad tales Of the rottenest people we knew, And everybody there kept askin' … Where were you?

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