Wednesday, November 19, 2008

For Gwen



maggie and milly and molly and may

by
e.e. cummings



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.




Photo is detail from a watercolor hanging in my dining room by Graham Herbert, a painter from Hornby Island, British Columbia.

12 comments:

Leslie said...

I love this poem. I've used before on art . . . at least part of it. I love the stone too! Wow. They are beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I've never seen this poem before. Thank you so much.

MomPhD said...

And let's not forget who gets the watercolor when you croak... Is the post-it still there?

Michele R. Unger said...

You'll be sorry when I croak! Who will you have to pick on then? The post it is still there....unless a sibling took it and changed the name.....

Meri said...

Love the image and the poem is SO cummings. Thanks for your insightful comment on my Sharing post today (the post about the decision to have a child being momentous) -- the image is a photo of a pastel I made from a photo of my youngest when he was about three.

HappyDayArt! said...

This is very cute! Thanks Michele. I love e.e. cummings!

Catherine

Tracie Lyn Huskamp said...

Hi Michele... Thanks for sharing your beautiful words... and thank you so much for visiting my humble blog.

Ted Kooser is a SUPER POET and a must have for any library.

warmly,
Tracie Lyn

Jonna said...

This has always been one of my favorite cummings poems. I even named one of our dogs Molly after this poem.

Gwen said...

LOVE this poem!!

I am happy that so many others like ee cummings, too!

Seth said...

Wonderful painting and a perfect match for the poem. Thanks too for leaving a comment on my blog!

diane b said...

Never heard it before but it is a nice one.

Anonymous said...

wow--that's a watercolor? amazing! i love lake stones...