Picture Picture: The Shel Silverstein Poem
Picture Picture: The Shel Silverstein Poem
Shel Silverstein made a career out of poems that sound like they were written by a slightly unhinged eight-year-old. Most have a bouncy rhythm, ridiculous rhymes, talking furniture, kids turning into TV sets. But go back and read Where the Sidewalk Ends or A Light in the Attic as an adult, and you'll notice something: a lot of those poems are secretly about loneliness, death, shame, or not belonging.
Your job is to write an original poem in that exact style (playful, bouncy, a little absurd) that a kid could read and just laugh at, but that a parent reading over their shoulder would catch something heavier underneath. Don't write a sad poem. Write a fun poem that happens to be haunted.
One original poem, minimum 16 lines
Clear childlike, sing-songy voice (rhyme, rhythm, playful kid-logic)
On the surface: fun, silly, or nonsensical
Underneath: one adult theme hidden in the details, or something a parent notices on a second read that a kid would breeze right past
Title it in classic Silverstein style: short, weird, a little too literal
Don't announce your hidden theme. Bury it in a detail, a tone shift, or one line that works perfectly fine as a silly line and as something much heavier if you're paying attention. Too obvious, and it stops being hidden. Too buried, and no one catches it. You're aiming for: "Wait — is this poem actually about—?"
Read it out loud before you're done. If it doesn't bounce, it's not there yet.
Once your poem is finished and approved, it's going undercover into the art department. I'll drop the finished poems off with the art teacher, who will hand them out at random to her students; no context, no explanation. They'll read your poem cold and create original artwork in response to whatever they see in it. You won't know who's illustrating your poem, and they won't know who wrote it. Consider it a test of whether your hidden detail actually landed.
Original poem, 16+ lines, titled in classic Silverstein style
Clear childlike voice: rhyme, rhythm, playful logic
One hidden theme worked into the details, not announced
At least one line that reads two ways
Your name on your submission
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Online PDF)
(pick one to build your poem around)
A kid who refuses to eat their vegetables
A monster living under the bed
A sock that goes missing in the laundry every single time
A kid who won't take a bath
An imaginary friend who has very strict rules
A list of "reasons I can't go to school today"
A pet that thinks it's actually a person
A kid who trades something valuable for something ridiculous
A tooth that won't fall out no matter what
A sibling who was clearly raised by wolves
A kid who can't stop growing (or won't stop shrinking)
A chair, lamp, or household object that has opinions
A kid who invents an elaborate excuse for a broken window
A list of "rules for surviving recess"
A kid who's convinced their reflection is up to something
A backyard creature no adult believes is real
A kid negotiating their bedtime like a lawyer
A cousin who visits once a year and ruins everything
A kid who swears they didn't eat the last cookie
A shoe that refuses to be tied
(pick one to bury underneath)
Grief over losing someone
Divorce or parents splitting a household
Feeling invisible or unheard at home
Anxiety about the future
Being different and not fitting in
Loneliness
Shame over a mistake
Fear of disappointing someone
A parent's absence
Feeling like a burden
Jealousy of a sibling who gets more attention
Growing up faster than you wanted to
Being compared to someone else constantly
Losing a friendship
Feeling unsafe at home
Struggling to be honest about how you feel
Watching a family member change (illness, addiction, aging)
Wanting to disappear or be left alone
Guilt over something you can't undo
Wondering if you're actually loved unconditionally