Three poems by e.e. cummings
#1:
the moon is hiding in
her hair.
The
lily
of heaven
full of all dreams,
draws down.
cover her briefness in singing
close her with the intricate faint birds
by daisies and twilights
Deepen her,
Recite
upon her
flesh
the rain’s
pearls singly-whispering.
#2:
who knows if the moon’s
a balloon, coming out of a keen city
in the sky–filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should
get into it, if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we’d go up higher with all the pretty people
than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody’s ever visited, where
always
it’s
Spring)and everyone’s
in love and flowers pick themselves
#3:
open your heart:
i’ll give you a treasure
of tiniest world
a piece of forever with
summitless younger than
angels are mountains
rivery forests
towerful towns (queen
sprout heroes of moonstar
flutter to and
swim blossoms of person) through
musical shadows while hunted
by daemons
see the luminous
leopards (on wingfeet of thingfear)
come ships go
snowily sailing
perfect silence.
Absolute ocean
Used with permission of the Liveright Publishing Corporation
Copyright 1923, 1925, 1944, 1951, 1953, 1963, 1972, 1991
by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust
Copyright 1976 by George James Firmage.
Contributed by Mary Aswell Doll
Poem-a-Day for Carl Leggo 