Great e. e. Cummings Poem

Whenever I visit the beach I think of  Cummings's poem 'maggie and milly and molly and may' and even my thoughts become lower case.  Then I panic! Should I have written 'cummings's' lower case irrespective of the separate issue of the possessive apostrophe?  

Another poem I recall on a stroll along the beach is John Masefield's 'Sea Fever', the one that starts, 'I must go down to the sea again/To the lonely sea and the sky...'  Thankfully no lower case issues with John Masefield.  

Please don't tell the punctuation police and instead enjoy the poem.

Steve

maggie and milly and molly and may

E. E. Cummings, 1894 - 1962

              

maggie and milly and molly and may 
went down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang 
so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing 
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

may came home with a smooth round stone 
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose(like a you or a me) 
it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

Meet Shelly!

This morning I found this orphan on a beach in Devon; then had the difficult task of naming him/her/it.  After much deliberation - 20 seconds, I considered  Michelle (ouch!) but settled  for Shelley (Byron eat your heart out) given the poetry theme of this blog.  Shelley is already composing great sea-themed poems and is far better than me but that wouldn't be difficult.

TIDEWRACK

TIDEWRACK

All cast away into the sea

Come back tenfold upon our shores

Tangled mangled and enmeshed

On tides that have no course nor sense

But charged with dread to wrack our hearts.

S. Evans, Boscastle, 2016

LOVELY LYRICS AND SONG -'TWILIGHT'

Reminds me so much of 'Somebody that I used to Know' another wonderful song by this artists.

TWILIGHT SONGTEXT

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time
I better stop now before I start crying
Go off to sleep in the sunshine
I don't wanna see the day when it's dying
She's a sight to see
She's good to me
But I'm already somebody's baby
She's a pretty thing
She loves everything
But I'm already somebody's baby

You don't deserve to be lonely
But those drugs you got won't make you feel better
Pretty soon you'll find it's the only
Little part of you life you're keeping together
I'm nice to you
I can make it through

But you're already somebody's baby
I can make you smile
If you stay a while
But how long will you stay with me baby?

Because your candle burns too bright
Well I almost forgot it was twilight
Even if I think that you are mine
Well I'm tired of being down, I got no fight
You're wonderful
And it's beautiful
But I'm already somebody's baby
And if I went with you
I'd dissapoint you too
I'm already somebody's baby
Already somebody's baby

YESTERDAY WITH THE LOVELY JULIE HESMONDHALGH

Supporting a community charity event in preparation for Comic Relief.  Yes, it's that time of the year already!

Migration

Migration

My arms outstretched, as 
Barren as the branches
You listened in silence
Until I'd had my say then
Turned your head so slightly
Said you, "Had to go away"
And the park gates to be locked 
And the lamps teary in the dusk
Once more I begged you stay, but
My words bore the breath of winter and    
You'd already flown away.

S. Evans, Exmouth, 2016

WHY SHOULD I THINK OF YOU?

Why Should I Think of You?

Why should I  think of you?
As if I need a reason to
Thinking of you and me
And our sharing once
Of a drop from this  boundless sea
Only one drop I confess but
Our drop nonetheless
And all the more precious for that.

© Stephen Evans 2015

Evocation

It isn't your body that still beckons me
From the eyelid of the doorway
Or the mischief and promise
In your sigh and in  your smile
It isn't your  warmth in the private of  places
Or your eyes' dilation at various stages
Not the coupling of our heart-beats
Nor the whisper of your skin

It is none of these.

What most  visits my memory and recalls you again
Is the scent of your hair when we kissed in the rain.


(c)  S.  Evans

Songbird

Why cage this songbird in my chest 
If it's only going to choke?
Why weld this strong bird to my arm
If its wings are bald and broke?

That songbird will die

That strong bird won't fly   

That nest you built lies silent
Beneath a barren sky

(c) Stephen Evans 2016