What I love about poetry is the interplay between the surface meaning of the words and the deeper meaning that lies within.  Shel’s poems have a way of seeming funny and light and innocent, but then, like a fresh breeze, his intended deeper meaning speaks softly and leaves you thinking…

 ENTER THIS DESERTED HOUSE

But please walk softly as you do.
Frogs dwell here and crickets too.

Ain’t no ceiling, only blue
Jays dwell here and sunbeams too.

Floors are flowers––take a few.
Ferns grow here and daisies too.

Whoosh, swoosh––too-whit, too-woo
Bats dwell here and hoot owls too.

Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee, hoo-hoooo,
Gnomes dwell here and goblins too.

And my child, I thought you knew
I dwell here…and so do you.