Did you ever read these poems when you were a kid? My brother and I used to pore over them in fascination. There was a long waitlist at the school library to get your hands on these puppies, so when we finally got one, it was not a book to be ignored!
I still remember the distinct, vivid images the words called up for me. I can remember the scratch of the rough gray carpet on my hands and knees, from kneeling over the heavy book in the library. We thought they were hilarious. My brother was the leader between us, so he usually read them out loud to me while I stared at the drawings and imagined.
Reading them again as an adult, I'm still struck by the humour in Silverstein's poems, and by the occassional loveliness of them. But then there are the ones that stray into gruesome territory. Like the one where the boy eats everything he sees: his dinner, his parents, the universe, and finally his own body. Ew! Or this one, which is a bit nightmarish as well:
I was never one to enjoy a scary tale, no matter how implausible. Nevertheless, I'm pleased as punch that I've finally got my own copy of the books and I don't have to squeeze everything I can out of the 20 minutes reading time on the floor of the school library anymore! Re-reading calls up so many fond memories of the days when my imagination was free to wander outside the boundaries of usefulness!
Here's another pretty one to end off with:
