and leap into the ripe air
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness"
E.E. Cummings - born on this day in 1894.
It’s the birthday of poet E.E. Cummings born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1894).
By the end of the 1950s, he had become the most popular poet in America. He loved performing, and loved the applause, and the last few years of his life were the happiest. He died on September 3, 1962.
In the first edition of his Complete Poems, he wrote in the preface,
“The poems to come are for you and for me and are not for mostpeople — it’s no use trying to pretend that mostpeople and ourselves are alike. […] You and I are human beings; most people are snobs.”
“53” a poem by E. E. Cummings to start off 2012
may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old
may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
for even if it’s sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young
and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile