e. e. cummings

My first poet is e. e. cummings. While I don't agree with the messages of some of his poems, (i.e. "since feeling is first") I think he expresses his ideas in a beautifully poetic manner. I've actually written two poems in his style. I'll give you two e. e. cummings pieces, and then the two I've written.

since feeling is first
e.e. cummings

since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
—the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death i think is no parenthesis

i carry your heart with me
e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Now for my poems. You should know enough about me to recognize that neither of these poems are based on my personal experiences. I used an e. e. cummings' subject matter (love).

presently, i see you and understand

presently, i see you and understand

more secrets hide within me than a spring (hides bubbling

beneath the earth) deepness puddles in my soul

brimming:less than the pools in your eyes which are

holding the meaning of that first kiss, powerfully transient

drink deeply—my mind knows you

are part of the color rising in my cheeks.

your hand in mine (no raindrop knows the cloud or sea)

this moment time recognizes;but does not know

before and behind:which is not, our need

only the smile on my lips, my head resting (herenow)

in the familiar place on your shoulder.

after the rain when the sky is silent

after the rain when the sky is silent

and i am brave enough to walk outside i think of you--remember

when our minds conversed(and sang in harmony)

i used to waltz through stormy weather with

you(bright jewel)hung in my heart;i thought

i knew all i needed about;the bright sea of stars:

we named at night smiled(because you

played counterpoint to their phrygian melody)

but this is all whatusedtobe

and

not

what

is

the harmony between us soured and diminished:and then

all you left me was your echo and i

learned that the blackemptiness that separates the stars can

muffle(entirely) their song;with a silence louder than memory.

i think of you and try to weep, but i

cannot even recall the taste of your smile

My Poetry Project

I've decided to give myself a challenge. Every day, or more likely every few days, I will post a couple poems by a poet I enjoy, and then a poem that I will write in his or her style.

If necessary, I'll fall back on poems I've already written and edit them for the blog, but what I'm trying to do is get in the habit of writing poetry more frequently. I think giving myself a project like this will be helpful.

"Ink runs from the corners of my mouth

There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry."
~Mark Strand

"Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry." ~W.B. Yeats

"Poetry: the best words in the best order" ~Samuel Coleridge

Six Word Stories

A famous legend says Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story using only six words. He wrote "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Some people call it his best story. Others say it's just a folk tale.

Some of my favorite six words stories follow:

With bloody hands, I say goodbye.

-Frank Miller

It cost too much, staying human.

-Bruce Sterling

Found true love. Married someone else.

-Dave Eggers

Kirby had never eaten toes before.

-Kevin Smith

Easy. Just touch the match to

-Ursula K. Le Guin

Please, this is everything, I swear

-Orson Scott Card

I saw, darling, but do lie.

-Orson Scott Card

Finally, he had no more words

-Gregory Maguire

He read his obituary with confusion

-Steven Meretzky

"Kitty will be fine," he lied.

-Dan Bergstein

"Forgive me!" "What for?" "Never mind."

-John Updike

My nemesis is dead. Now what?

-Michael Cunningham

As she fell, her mind wandered.

-Rebecca Miller

A book, called Not Quite What I Was Planning is an anthology of six word stories and memoirs. They are pretty fun! I haven't written any of my own yet, but I'm working on it :)

A Short, Simple Thought

The following quote really stuck with me when I read it, and I wanted to share it with you. :)

"If monotony tries me, and I cannot stand drudgery: if people fret me and the little things of life set me on edge; if I make much of the trifles of life, then I know nothing of Calvary's love." ~ Amy Carmichael

Fantastic Duos!

This blog is dedicated to just what the title says, awesome pairs, famous collaborations... :D

First off: Itzhak Perlman, violinist, and Daniel Barenboim, pianist, play Brahms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L5nSwAND3Y

Next, one of my favorite movie-musical scenes: Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby in "White Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YhTKiFEMAg
(Note: If you haven't seen the movie, you might want to watch this FIRST for context: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYZbgG4D2oA)

Our next wonderful combination is: Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTy-4YRRwdY

(BONUS (!) for those who love the old classics: Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby in "High Society"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liSrzc_OdDw)

Now to a literary combination: Frank Peretti (the definitive Christian suspense writer) and Ted Dekker (the other big writer in that genre) combined to write House, which is one of the scariest books I have ever read - even rereading, when I already know what is going to happen, is scary!
It is really good! Don't go see the movie though. They take the Christian redemptive message out of the story and just make it a lame scary movie (or so I've heard. I haven't actually seen it.)
http://www.amazon.com/House-Frank-Peretti/dp/1595541551

Another combination is Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson - although well known in popular culture, not many people read stories beyond "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." I recently bought The Complete Sherlock Holmes and I am absolutely loving it. Here is a link that has the complete text of some of the short stories: http://www.mysterynet.com/holmes/more.shtml

Finally, two famous comic book duos: Calvin and Hobbes

(url if you cannot view the image: http://woodside.blogs.com/cosmologycuriosity/images/2007/06/05/calvin_hobbes_pascals_wager_pascal_.jpg)

And: Betty and Veronica from the Archie comics, which Sophia and I used to read

(http://archie-blogs.archiecomics.com/archie_news/bvd181_0.jpg)

I will leave you with "Anything you can do" a hilarious duet. It is originally from the musical "Annie Get Your Gun," but it is taken out of context in a wonderful way :) Performed by the wonderful Ruthie Henshall with John Barrowman
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJvPjelxxj0

Scary Noises at Night! dun dun duuuuun...

My sister and I see road kill at least one or two times on the way to school every single day. It's become a little ridiculous, but I suppose that's what comes with living in the woods! When you are winding through the trees on Freedom Boulevard, you are bound to see animal casualties I suppose.

Speaking of living in the woods, last night I was sitting in the exact same spot I am now, typing away at my government outline when i felt something tickle my foot. I looked down and shook my foot vigorously as I saw a cricket crawling across it. I shuddered briefly, but it did not really bother me. However, this same cricket I later realized could fly. While I was deeply engrossed in defining liberalism, the cricket swooped by my ear with an evil, menacing buzzing sound and startled me, diving at my face. I again shuddered, but did not realize it had landed on my shirt. I continued typing, and when the infernal insect finally jumped upwards less than an inch from my face and landed on my keyboard, I freaked out and ran away, wringing my hands in disgust.

This was not the end of the day's adventures. After dusk darkened into night, I heard a noise right outside on the front deck. It was shuffling and scratching, like a bear (except we don't have bears, so I assumed it was a raccoon). Of course, me being the mystery-novel-lover that I am, my mind immediately jumped to "What if it is a serial killer?" even though I knew very well that an experienced criminal would not make that much noise. I crept to the front door and listened (checking that it was locked). The scratching was very close, probably only a foot or two from where I was standing safe inside my house. I started to peer out the window, but when I realized I might see either a tall menacing stranger with a weapon and a psychological disorder or a pair of beady red eyes meeting mine, I stopped myself. Finishing my outline as quickly as I could, I turned out the lights and went to bed, figuring that a robber who came into our house while I was asleep (or feigning sleep) would be far less likely to confront me and cause me harm.

Needless to say, it was a while (and several more rustling noises, this time from another side of our house) before my adrenaline receded and I was able to fall asleep.

Why English is Weird

My mom teaches ESL (English as a Second Language) and it is often difficult for her students to learn tricky English grammar and pronunciation rules when they have spoken Spanish most of their lives. Native speakers often don't realize it, but English is a really hard language. Studying orderly, precisely organized Latin in seventh grade made me realize just how bizarre English can be.

Plural of knife is knives
Plural of life is lives
Plural of strife is strifes. or just strife.

Read this sentence: "I had a tough day; though I tried and tried, I could not get through the required reading for Moby Dick." How do you pronounce these words: "tough," "though," and "through"? (I start to feel like I have spelled them wrong after typing them all in a row.)

How do you pronounce "pay" and "say"?
Then how do you pronounce "paid" and "said"?

What is the plural of tooth? What is the plural of booth?

Saying "slim chance" or saying "fat chance" means the same thing, but a "wise man" is different from a "wise guy"

Teachers teach, and preachers preach. The teacher taught. The preacher... praught?

"overlook" means something completely different from "oversee"

A house that "burns up" is the same as a house that "burns down."

To "fill in" a form is to "fill out" a form.

"Quite a few" = "quite a lot"

We turn an alarm on so that it will "go off" the next morning.

I say: Why don't we all just learn Esperanto?