e. e. cummings
Today we note the birth date of e.e. cummings (Edward Estlin Cummings), (October 14, 1894
September 3, 1962), American poet and painter who first attracted attention, in an age of literary experimentation, for his unconventional punctuation and phrasing.
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
--e .e. cummings
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Click on the following link to hear e.e.cummings read his poem “somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond” [skip the ad]