Where the Sidewalk Ends (Shel Silverstein)

This is a famous poem, most importantly because it is the title of a fantastic collection of Shel's poetry. It, unlike his other poems, is actually somber. It rhymes, but the tone is not light.

The sidewalk winds through land "where the smoke blows black". It's unpleasant and adult. In the poem, the children know where the sidewalk ends and are telling you how to get to it. You have to "walk with a walk that is measured and slow" and follow the signs that others have laid out before you. And you will arrive at the place that all the children know, that is far beyond the reach of black smoke and "dark streets".

It ain't quite childhood that you to look forward to, at least in this somber poem, but I think I remember this poem coming first in the collection, so it serves as a sort of an entry way to his other, lighter, more kid-friendly poems.

Favorite line: "We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow"