Avant-Edge: e.e. cummings

Happy Easter Toads and other miscellaneous garden dwellers. This is my favourite time of year - spring is just around the corner. We have some pretty cold winters in this neck of the woods and the sunshine and green grass is a sight for sore eyes. This is my second challenge in the Garden and it is the third week of poetry month so today I am going to go easy.

For those of you on track for a poem a day my hat's off to you.

There are two things I love about poetry. First, is the inspired and authentic expression that only poetry provides as displayed by the Romantic Poets. Second, is the ability use and abuse language in new and exciting ways - the possibilities and combinations are endless. This really triggers the inner geek in me.

No one use and abused my beloved language more successfully than e.e. cummings. Also, his name is synonymous with Avant-garde Poetry which is my theme. One of my favourite poems is "anyone lived in a pretty how town"

"anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that no one loved him more by more"

see the full poem here

Another classic example is "loneliness a leaf falls" where the arrangement of the letters mimics the action of a falling leaf.

l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness

I am going to throw in one more example of how simple, elegant and beautiful our language can be. It is the shortest story ever written by Ernest Hemmingway:

"For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn"

So the challenge is to write a poem of any length or style that uses, or misuses, language in a new and creative way. I'm excited to see what this talented crew comes up with.