Nick Cannon Puts Out A Poetry Book

Read between the lines: Nick Cannon is just fine.

In his new book for children, “Neon Aliens Ate My Homework and Other Poems,” the TV personality who filed for divorce from Mariah Carey last December writes about taking the high road when dealing with haters and heartbreak.

“I’m talking about relationships in there,” Cannon, 34, tells the Daily News. “Like how I really feel being in love (in ‘Flourescent Essence’), and then there’s definitely some humor in there that you’re like, ‘OK, I see where he’s going with that!’ ”

And also where Cannon has been. In one poem, “Just Like You,” the long-running host of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and “Wild ’N Out” on MTV writes about growing up on food stamps.

The wordplay in this one includes, “My life is overly dramatic, like a bad actress,” and “I’m just a spectator who loves MCs ... literally.”

Does “MC” stand for rapper, or the initials of his ex, a notorious drama queen? Even if it’s a Carey put-down, it’s a subtle one.

Ever the gentleman, Cannon doesn’t publicly diss his ex. “I don’t allow hate to come into my heart,” he says. “I encourage young people to embrace your flaws, because your flaws make you flawless.”

He will only say that he deals with his personal life by writing, spending time with his and Carey’s 3-year-old twins, and serving on the board of St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Queens.

“Writing is something I’ve always done, whether it was lyrics or television scripts,” he says. “It allows you to focus on happiness when there are hardships and difficult times. And when I go to St. Mary’s, it really puts everything into the proper perspective.”

Cannon credits Shel Silverstein for making him fall in love with writing — and he pays that debt forward with this book, illustrated by Cannon and acclaimed street artists including Art Mobb, Califawnia and Captain Kris.

Given his affection for the earlier poet, Cannon did the illustration for “Remembering Shel,” an ode to a writer whose poems were “truest to me,” Cannon explains.

“I’m not the world’s greatest illustrator, but neither was Shel Silverstein. I figured, I’ll take a stab at it.”

Inspired so obviously by Silverstein, Cannon’s poems include silly ditties on cafeteria ladies, homework-stealing aliens and robot dinosaurs, as well as plenty of gross-out bathroom humor, like eating boogers, that many kids will probably get a kick out of.

“I think farting is hilarious,” he admits. “I like to make fun of things that people think are taboo. Life, you can’t take it too seriously. You’ve only got one, so enjoy it.”

But there are more nuanced works, as well. He wrote “Daddy’s Shoes” after seeing his son Moroccan (aka Roc) playing in his clothes.

“I was watching him in these giant Timbaland boots, just trying to walk, and it made me think of my father and my grandfather, and the great things they’ve done, and the wisdom they’ve passed on to me,” says Cannon.

There are tributes to supermoms, whose powers include finding needles in haystacks and healing with kisses, and the glow of young love that should resonate with many readers.

“It comes from a simplistic place that I feel like everyone can embrace,” says Cannon. “So a 6-year-old can pick this up, and a 60-year-old can pick it up, and everybody will enjoy it just the same.”

“The Wordsmith”

I am an artist with words

I think in cursive

I fall asleep with a dream

I wake up with a purpose

o

“Back To School”

Parting school is such sweet sorrow

Since there are so many library books to borrow.

Today I read about Mount Kill-o-Man-Jarrow.

I forgot how to spell it ... I guess I’ll go back tomorrow.

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