Dear Shel Silverstein,

Simplicity is the minds greatest weakness, and I feel your collection of poems in Where the Sidewalk Ends really explores that exact concept. I have read your poetry collection over 10 times and every reading has exposed something different about its self each day. No matter how many times I have read “Smart” or “Jimmy Jet and His TV Set” I seem to find a different meaning in every word on any given day. These poems seem to be meant for children, but to me…an almost grown woman, they mean much more.

I enjoy how you bring light and darkness to each line in your work. There is room for interpretation, and free thinking. I feel the mind has some kind of block in it that forces us to overthink every situation. One cannot simply think of the now, but has to continue on to think of every outcome. The poems in your book are not long, not hard, not overly ridiculous, but they are profound and seem to have a deeper meaning. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, maybe they are just simple adlibs, nothing with deeper meaning, but I will still continue to find meaning in every written word. Maybe I am over thinking the poems when they should just be seen as simple childlike word play, but I am glad I have over thought each poem because they have affected my life like no other book has.

The Poem “US” makes me think of the person each of us are, while we are consumed by the person we want to be, or the person society makes us become. No one is alone in their own head, and your poems help me realize what I already know. Another Poem that has shown me some light is “Two Boxes”. People accept those who are like them. But in reality they know not who is beneath the outer disguise. We like commonality. I feel instances throughout Where the Sidewalk Ends that challenge democracy, the demands of wanting social recognition, and being stuck in the confines of your own mind and self-worth. Poetry is an art form that is very hard to grasp for some, but I am glad I have the ability to comprehend what it means, even if my meaning is different from yours. I would say you should definitely be proud that something you created can affect a person so deeply. Your book was published a little over a year after I was born, and I received it as a prize in second grade for completing my library reading chart…I have kept going back to it ever since then.

I am no “Super Fan” or a poetry fanatic by any means, though I must say reading your poems took me away from the stress of my parents’ divorce and moving over seven times. I use to go sit in my room and read, a lot of times the material I was drawn to was by you. I definitely appreciate how open each poem is when the world is so close minded. This poetry or so called “stuff” that so many people look down upon may be just what the world needs right now.

I realized your writing had changed me when I found myself relating my life back to your poems. Like Forgotten Language or The Search. Maybe the Helping poem or Love poem, but going day to day and finding something in my life that has meaning, meaning put into simple open word, is the best feeling, because it shows me that I don’t have to make life hard. It’s going to play out how I choose, not how everyone thinks I should make it.

I am a simple girl who wishes nothing but the best for everyone, and I find the world to be hiding in their own mental sarcophagus. I wouldn’t mind living in a tree house where I can be myself away from judgment and above aristocracy. Each and every person in this world should open up their eyes and see what is right in front of them. The mental state of each and every nation is crumbling into a massive broken stockpile of meaningless and unusable concrete. One day the sidewalk really will end. I believe your poems helped me realize what I want my life to be like until then. I don’t want my life to be the standard, because I like reading between the lines of every short art piece. That is how your work influenced me and I am glad it did.
From a work admiring, soul searching young adult.
Thank you,
Danéa O’Dell