Shel Silverstein....

... was a genius.  His art, poetry, writing and music translated through decades.  Anyone who read/hear his stuff can identify and relate, no matter age, location, or experience.  A true Renaissance Man.  My students love reading his poems and I LOVE reading strange ones to my students.  My students laugh till they cry, cringe at the gross and cry at the sad. 

One of his poems "Masks," from a book of his collections created after his death, uses simple language and storytelling to address a complex problem that affects children, teenagers, the elderly.... people of all ages.  Here is a snapshot of it.

I can't tell you how much I love this poem.

A true artist can create something so simple and evoke different reactions.  Our interpretations of such art usually tells us much about ourselves and it does the art.  People's experiences, or lack there of, make us look at things differently.  Everyone struggles with their own personal version of "blue skin."  I read this poem and thought of the sadness and the journey of finding true love.  Some people, after reading reviews about this poem, thought of atheism (I don't get that but to each their own).  Other people related this to insecurities in people and their quest to hiding themselves thinking no one would understand.  Others think of cultural differences. 

Regardless of what you though of while reading the poem, it made you think.  And made you reflect.  It's amazing to me to see that such "simple" children's poem, especially ones that Shel Silverstein wrote, have such deeper meanings then they appear.  It's why I love reading the poems to my 2nd grade students - it makes them think deeper and out of the box.  This poem will definitely be read in my class the first week of school.

Speaking of school, I go back tomorrow for Teacher Workdays... a little bittersweet.  On the bright side, once school starts I can officially begin the countdown to Summer Vacation again.