Missing Shel

I just read The Giving Tree and had to share this amazing children's book with you. So simple yet so powerful. Someone had given it to me on the day Andrew was born, but it got buried among others. Well... I must admit to hesitating to read the book earlier because of the author's cover photo. On it, he looks somewhat like a cross between a Jedi and a pirate. How silly of me to judge a book by its cover -- literally. Shel Silverstein was such a gentle polymath, talented in the spheres of music, poetry, screenwriting and drawing. After watching a video of him singing a children's song, I can tell you -- the man had his heart in his work. How lucky for us. Enjoy:



And here's another one that Silverstein probably wrote for Elizabeth Taylor. I love the unpredictable twist at the end. I guess the poet was not much of a businessman -- had the piece ended just six pages earlier, he would have had a Valentines or wedding present of a century. Although, if you consider the rate of divorce nowadays, the poem might still make it as a hit. Judge for yourselves:

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