Shel Silverstein with swear words

Okay, so this was pretty light, silly reading — but I definitely needed it after the last few books I’ve read.

“I love you just the way you are

but you don’t see you like I do.

You shouldn’t try so hard to be perfect.

Trust me, perfect should try to be you.”

This collection of illustrated poems by comedian Bo Burnham reminded me very much of Shel Silverstein, with a lot more swearing. Even the illustrations brought him to mind. Most of the poems are very short, just a few lines, and the shortest ones were the best, in my opinion. Many had endings that literally made me snort with laughter. I particularly loved the wordplay ones, and the ones with a little twist at the end. I don’t have much more to say about a little book of little poems, so here’s a couple examples…

“They say adults have no imagination.

Not true.

Just instead of dinosaurs and spaceships,

they imagine silence and the new babysitter bent over the coffee table.”

 

“If the poem you’re writing is silly and dumb,

make sure that it rhymes at the end. Bum.”

 

“You’re afraid of sharks?

Really?

They don’t even have bones!

They have cartilage.

Are you afraid of ears too?”

 

I will add that I do not recommend the e-book version, as not matter what size I had it set on, the illustrations usually got separated from the poems, which kind of sucked.