I love reading poetry. There is nothing quite like the soul of a poet. Delicate and all consuming and it always shines through the words that are always chosen so carefully.
When I recently revisited the words of E. E. Cummings’s poem I couldn’t help but think about my big sister.
My sister’s first born was different than all the other children. By the time he was a year and a half he could already solve simple math problems and by the time he was two, he had stopped speaking altogether. He didn’t point and didn’t sit still but had – and still has – the purest heart I have ever seen.
It is easy to focus on my nephew’s angelic eyes and heart of gold, but when I read the lyrics of Cummings’s poem I thought about the emotional struggles my sister is going through.
She laughs her son’s joy and cries his grief and frustration. But most of all – ANYONE’S ANY IS ALL TO HER!
I can still remember how when he was 4 years old my sister suddenly burst into tears. I had no idea what had made her cry and then she said “He will never say ‘I love you mom'”. I was so overwhelmed by her simple but so profound concern and took it upon myself to teach him these words. I know he loves her dearly, he is a loving person, so I didn’t mind how mechanical these words sound when they came out of his little mouth, and she didn’t mind either. I hope.
It is difficult to understand how difficult it is for a mother of an 11 years old son to be thrilled when he types a full sentence on the computer. It is not easily understandable how an initiation of a simple conversation can yield such immense joy in a mother’s heart. Thus I find that these words “anyone’s any was all to her” depicts so well my sister’s trials and turbulence.
I adore my sister’s strength and endless capacity to love and understand.
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What poem or line of a poem to you find inspiring and reminding you of a person who is dear to you? Please share by leaving a comment.
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Oh, Avital. You are one sweet special person (I really want to send hugs your way … and to your sister.) Life can be so hard with all its joys, huh?
Anyway, I have always loved this poem …
Should you go first
and I remain,
to walk this road alone
I will live in memory’s garden dear
with happy days we have known …
I first heard it when I was maybe 10 … immediately learned to recite the whole thing (I didn’t type it all). Now it reminds me of my mom, waiting for me. Needless to say, I miss her so much!
Oh, Melanie, this poem is SO beautiful! I am sure your mother is strongly rooted in your memory’s garden with all the happy days you’d known. {{{hugs}}}
Oh, my goodness…I have a tear in my eye. This is a beautiful layout and the poem just melts my heart. I have so many favorites that it’s hard to pick just one. This one is very close to the top of my list. It’s titled “High Flight” and was written by John Magee who was a WWII pilot. It reminds me of my daughter and my daddy and, in truth, all those who I love that have gone on before. I cry every time I read it.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Such a beautiful picture of the freedom of the soul! And I have tears in my eyes!
Tina, this poem is so touching. I can only imagine what events had made him write such sensible words. This is exactly what I was referring to when I spoke about the soul of a poet. Like a sponge it absorbs the poet’s surrounding and conveys it back with deep emotions.
Thanks for getting me to think about poetry through your blog. I’m not a regular poetry reader, but some poems really touch the soul. It was nice to read the other poetry replies to this blog. I sometimes prefer the simple and delightful poetry that doesn’t require complicated analysis. William Wordsworth’s ‘I Wandered As Lonely As a Cloud’ is one of the poems that I like: (who knows, perhaps there’s an in-depth interpretation to this poetry than the pretty daffodils, but I’ll keep my ‘simple’ interpretation of the poem for now. 🙂
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils,
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: –
A poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -and gazed -but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills
And dances with the daffodils.
Wow, that song is beautiful, whatever meaning one choose to attach to it. I guess every one reads some of his own soul, memories and belief into a poem. That’s the beauty of it. Thanks so much for sharing and thanks for your kind words!
What a beautiful layout and a beautiful story too!