Shel

Shel Silverstein is a super hero. He wrote for Playboy and children. Lyricist and poet for Cash and The Rovers. He penned The Unicorn, and I sang it at the top of my lungs at every chance as a kid. Rats, cats, elephants.

Last night I listened to some of my favorite lyrics live, one line always makes me think of Mr. Silverstein. "My world begins where the road ends, watch me leave it all behind." I think the tone is different but my mind thinks of Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Shel Silverstein could appreciate a child's fragile perfection. The poem still gives me chills. I won't stop trying to find what's past the end of the road or where the sidewalk ends, I used to know... I swear it was right there a second ago.


Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.