Where the Sidewalk Ends

The title of the poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends” is a continuous refrain that appears several times throughout, beginning with the very first line. This opening phrase establishes the meaning of the title, the tone of the poem, and its driving force: “There is a place where the sidewalk ends / and before the street begins” (Lines 1-2). Because a sidewalk and a street are usually right up against each other, this creates a sense of a place out of time and beyond the known realities of the world. This idea of a place that is not quite one thing and not quite another is a common motif in traditional myth and folklore; it presents the idea of a threshold between two states of being, which becomes an extended metaphor throughout the poem for the threshold between childhood and adulthood.

The following phrases in the first stanza expand on this threshold place with more concrete yet dreamlike details: “the grass grows soft and white / […] the sun burns crimson bright / […] the moon-bird rests […] / […] in the peppermint wind” (Lines 3-6). This creates a visual image of what this place beyond the sidewalk looks like, yet it is filled with things that cannot exist in the world as we understand it. The images of white grass, crimson sun, and a bird of the moon are all in juxtaposition against one another, representing limitless possibilities brought together in an illogical yet cohesive whole. “Peppermint wind” (Line 6) in particular is a very idyllic and childlike image. It takes on new resonance against the following line, “Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black” (Line 7), which suggests a place of toxicity and exhaust, or fumes from machinery. Peppermint wind, by contrast, is fresh and hopeful. This shows the reader that once they cross into this place, the very air they breathe will be filled with renewal.

The rest of the second stanza expands on the real world, which serves as a broad metaphor for adulthood. Compared to the tranquility and freedom of the first stanza, this one contains imagery of darkness and uncertainty. The “dark street [that] winds and bends” (Line 8) parallels the dark journey of navigating life, which is filled with unexpected curves and unforeseeable corners. This sinister tone is heightened with the alliterative “Past the pits” (Line 9). The “asphalt flowers” (Line 9) are an unusual image that suggests hope in a place of stagnancy and decay; whether these are literal flowers growing through the pavement, or other small items struggling to offer some beauty into the landscape, they communicate an innate human need to connect with nature in even the most inhospitable places.

The ending of the second stanza going into the third and final stanza is rhythmic and repetitive, describing the way the speaker and the reader will travel together to the place where the sidewalk ends. The third stanza is almost exactly the same as Lines 10-12, with a few variations. The third stanza begins with “Yes” (Line 13), suggesting a renewed sense of energy and purpose, and the speaker goes “where the chalk-white arrows go” (Line 14), instead of merely “watch[ing]” (Line 11) as they do in the second stanza. There’s also an essential line interjected into this rhythm: “For the children, they mark, and the children, they know” (Line 15). This brings the poem’s core theme into perspective: the place where the sidewalk ends as a larger metaphor for the limitlessness of childhood. The speaker acknowledges that children have creative and imaginative capabilities that those in the speaker’s own adult world have lost, and the only way to rediscover this power within themselves is to follow the children back into their world. The poem ends with a line very similar to the one with which it begins, bookending the story and inviting the reader to discover its magic in their own lives.