Friday Poetry Blogging

Finally, at last, Dr. Virago, who works almost entirely on poetic texts, jumps on the Friday poetry Blogging bandwagon!

In honor of Spring and of Jo(e)'s poetry-inspiring word-of-the-week, "muddy," I give you e. e. cummings. I love this poem for the words "mud-luscious" and "puddle-wonderful" and all the rest of its word- and sound-play, but also for the brilliant way it seems to be a sentimental and corny poem about spring and children, but is really about the dangerous excitement (or exciting danger?) of sexuality and adolescence. Plus, who doesn't like a poem with the word "piracies" in it?

This is also dedicated to my friend the Empress (aka the Pastry Pirate) who claims she hates poetry because she thinks it takes complex ideas and reduces them to Hallmoark card greetings. I think she just hasn't read enough good stuff. And this one seems like the kind of stuff she'd hate at first -- sentimental, soppy -- but really isn't at all. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to make Blogger do the word spacing that the poem requires with the "far and wee" lines -- which tries to imitate the sound of a far-away whistle coming closer and closer -- but at least I can do the line breaks.

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame baloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's
spring
and

the

goat-footed

baloonMan whistles
far
and
wee