#Poetry is art too!

[elodee]

HERMIT A DAY MAY - DAY 18

JoeHillsTSD x Where the Sidewalk Ends

For Joe Hills I chose Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein!

I loved this book along with A Light in the Attic when I was a kid. It was one of my earliest exposures to poetry and since Joe is a poet himself, I thought this would suit them well!

In addition to doing a drawing for Joe, I also tried my hand at an original Joe Hills poem in the style of Silverstein. Writing poetry is pretty far outside of my usual wheelhouse, so I hope it turned out suitably Silverstein-esque! I'm proud of it regardless. :)

Here is the text of the poem:

-

JOE HILLS

A puppet is Juppet

A felt little guy

That felt is swell

And svelte

And blue as the sky.

But try as I might

I can't help but think

All that felt

Must swelt

In a Nashville July!

-

To learn more about Where the Sidewalk Ends and see my style references, continue below the cut!

(Happy Hermitcraft stream weekend! A fine weekend to donate to Gamer's Outreach)

Where the Sidewalk Ends is a 1970s book of poetry by Shel Silverstein. Each poem is accompanied by a whimsical ink drawing also done by Silverstein.

The poetry is fantastical and imaginative, often written from a child-like perspective. Though the poetry sometimes touches on darker themes, it does so from a thoughtful place and the collection is enjoyable for people of all ages.

Even if you aren't someone who likes poetry, I highly recommend picking up Where the Sidewalk Ends or A Light in the Attic. They are both wonderful.

Style references:

Every poem in the book has a cute drawing to accompany it. Here is the poem from the above image:

THE ACROBATS

I'll swing

By my ankles,

She'll cling

To your knees

As you hang

By your nose

From a high-up

Trapeze.

But just one thing, please,

As we float through the breeze-

Don't sneeze.

The illustrations for Where the Sidewalk Ends are whimsical with sparse, stippled shading and cartoonish characters

The lineart of these drawings is thick and a little messy but still easily readable even when the subject of the drawings is unusual (which is pretty much all of them)

[zuzu-draws]

Just a pair of friendly sorcerers out on a stroll~

[juha-art]

ELECTROCHEMISTRY- No one will ever want to sleep with you.

Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out, Richard Siken

[thenegoteator]

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

-- 'One Art' by Elizabeth Bishop

you ever think about how after everything Ahsoka told Vader "I'm not leaving you" and it wasn't enough

[panthermouthh]

And I said, “Hello, Satan

I believe it’s time to go.”

[lucidloving]

Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless // Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov // @orteil42 // Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath // Toni Morrison, Jazz // Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye // Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Meek One

[kitcatbookmad]

back in at my uncles house for a weekend. I love how lived in his shelves are and how much he evidently dips in and out of things.

[teachyouhowtodothesponge]

Still doodling this drama bug! ✨✨

Extras:

[eggoatt]

collage poem about Loop

[kidfur]

one day a sinkhole formed in my backyard

it swallowed up the garage, left nothing behind

“thats normal” everyone said, “sinkholes are inevitable”

nobody seemed concerned as it grew bigger

dad just sighed and shrugged his shoulders when it ate his lawnmower

mom just sighed and shrugged her shoulders when it ate her car

it just kept growing bigger and bigger

i found myself walking outside every day just to look at it in horror

the corner of my room started sagging

my closet was the first to go

but it just kept eating

it ate my phone and my computer and my tv and my bookshelf

my parents wouldnt let me sleep in the living room

so every day and every night i sat in my bed and stared at it

i dared it to come closer

“this is normal” i said

“sinkholes are inevitable”

i promised myself as it ate me too

it was one thousand million years of darkness before i woke up again

and everything was put back just the way it was

and everyone remembered the sinkhole, how much it ate

how much of our lives it took away

but still didnt seem concerned 

nor surprised that i had survived somehow

dad cut the grass, mom drove to work

and as i struggled and gasped and whined and moaned from the agony of being alive again

every single bone and muscle and nerve and cell in my body on fire

i wondered if my parents were feeling this pain too

and i wondered why i was the only one who cared about the sinkhole in the backyard

[notsofrozt]

Yellow blooms & violet thorns

Amidst a sea of golden dreams we danced, our love a tapestry woven in sunlit hues. But beneath the weight of disillusion, we found ourselves adrift in a garden of thorns, where the once vibrant petals whispered tales of bitter truths

[liesandnights]

Don't be afraid to be "too much." Call me 5 times a day because you wanna hear my voice or something came up and you wanna tell me immediately. Text me 12 times in a row when I don't answer fast enough. Leave me cute texts when you can't sleep. Hold my hand, everywhere. Sit really close to me on the couch. Keep your hand on my thigh. Always have a part of you touching a part of me. Tell me you love me every hour. I don't care I want to be smothered in love, holy fuck life is too short to hold back.

[manicmortalmushroom]

may, 2024

if i’m too sweet for you, rot your teeth, or spit me out.

[andywaslost]

ignore all logic

and grab my hand.

a dance with the devil

may be your last,

or maybe we stand

the test of time.

[rusquared]

Orv Poetry Series: One Source of Bad Information by Robert Bly [IDs in alt]

[lucidloving]

Joshua Moritz, 'Is There a God-Shaped Hole at the Heart of Mathematics?' // Bluepoch Games, Reverse 1999 // Li C. Tien, "Right Triangle" // Proclus Diadochus // @lothmoth // Lisa Rosenberg, "Introduction to Methods of Mathematical Physics" // Wassily Kadinsky, watercolour abstract // Albert Einstein // see 4