Weed Poems: 3 Famous Poems Interpreted With Cannabis In Mind
📷 Grow Exeter
What’s the point of art and poetry if not to interpret your own meaning to it?
Part of the human condition is our unending desire to assign meaning to things. The best consequence of that is our ability to create art and poetry. That’s why we’ve decided to interpret famous poems to make them sound like weed poems.
1. 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
This excerpt from Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, to us, seems like it very well could be about weed. The place where the sidewalk ends and before the street begins? Could this be describing a place our boy Shel used to go and to get high? And grass that’s soft and white? How about the trichomes on cannabis flower that give it that crystallised, frosty appearance? And Peppermint wind! It sounds like he could have been smoking the hybrid strain Peppermint Cookies.
After doing some research, this poem was intended to be a message for adults to take the perspective of a child to find joy. In a way, our “weed-terpretation” is almost right in an abstract way. People often claim that using cannabis inspires a child-like wonder within them, which would make this poem by Shel Silverstein fit in as one of the great weed poems.
2. 'There Is Another Sky' by Emily Dickinson
Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers
I hear the bright bee hum:
Prithee, my brother,
Into my garden come!
Is this excerpt from There Is Another Sky by Emily Dickinson too obvious? According to our interpretation, Mrs. Dickinson may have had her own grow op! Okay, she probably didn’t, but I can still dream. What do you think Emily Dickinson would talk about after you smoked her “unfading flowers” with her? It sounds like she’s describing an experience of heightened perception as she can hear the bee hum. Some high people claim that they can feel the whole earth moving. I think we’ve all been there. This makes this poem fit right in with the rest of the world’s great weed poems.
This homage to nature can easily be interpreted by a cannabis lover as a description of a beautiful cannabis garden.
3. 'Still I Rise' by Maya Angelou
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
This excerpt of Still I Rise by Maya Angelou is a powerful message to those who are trying to bring us down. In our cannabis-infused interpretation, we see this as being a cannabis advocate. Even though there are people and politicians attempting to worsen the stigma on the plant that’s done wonders for many people’s health and livelihoods, we will still overcome. We will come out stronger than ever.
The meaning of this poem has everything to do with self-respect, confidence, and self-esteem. Maya Angelou was also, unbeknownst to some, a cannabis enthusiast herself. She recalled one of her first cannabis experiences at a dinner party, “The food was the best I’d ever tasted. Every morsel was an experience of sheer delight. I lost myself in a haze of sensual pleasure, enjoying not only the tastes but the feel of the food in my mouth, the smells, and the sound of my jaws chewing.”
Only Maya Angelou can make the munchies sound that amazing. And for that, we nominate this poem to be included in the world’s greatest weed poems.
Poetry and art attempt to make sense of our world when there doesn’t seem to be any sense being made. It offers a new perspective, beauty, and inspiration to those who are moved. These poems weren’t really about weed, but they were meant to be discovered and cherished.
There really should be more weed poems in the world though, don’t you think? Cannabis is the source of inspiration for so many artists and authors!
Do you write poetry while you’re high? Feel free to share some of yours in the comments section below.