{"id":8520,"date":"2025-01-17T10:36:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T17:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8520"},"modified":"2025-01-17T10:36:33","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T17:36:33","slug":"e-e-cummings-may-my-heart-always","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/17\/e-e-cummings-may-my-heart-always\/","title":{"rendered":"e. e. cummings – may my heart always"},"content":{"rendered":"

may my heart always be open to little
\nby e. e. cummings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

may my heart always be open to little
\nbirds who are the secrets of living
\nwhatever they sing is better than to know
\nand if men should not hear them men are old<\/p>\n

may my mind stroll about hungry
\nand fearless and thirsty and supple
\nand even if it\u2019s sunday may i be wrong
\nfor whenever men are right they are not young<\/p>\n

and may myself do nothing usefully
\nand love yourself so more than truly
\nthere\u2019s never been quite such a fool who could fail
\npulling all the sky over him with one smile<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962<\/a>, by e. e. cummings<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Dan Bojorquez<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I want to start by addressing the fires still raging in Southern California. I was an adolescent in the LA area, not far from where many of the fires are now burning. I no longer have family in the area and I haven\u2019t been back in many years, but I have history there, formative moments associated with those places. I carry the imprint of the land with me. So, even from a distance, the fires feel personal. <\/p>\n

To all of you affected more directly by the fires, my heart goes out to you and your communities.<\/p>\n

The rhythms of the world feel as if they have shifted. The hills surrounding LA have always been prone to fires, but never with such destruction and size. Just as many areas have always been vulnerable to hurricanes, but never with such size and ferocity and frequency. It feels as if few places on the planet are truly stable and reliable these days, requiring us to dig deep to discover an inner source of security while becoming supremely flexible in dealing with a shifting landscape \u2014 all while trying to help and ease suffering where we can. I guess our work is laid out for us\u2026<\/p>\n

Now, on to today\u2019s poem\u2013<\/p>\n

Boy\u2026 e.e. cummings.<\/p>\n

Any commentary or thoughts you want to share? Me, I\u2019m not sure I want to touch this one! Anything that betrays too much of a fixed reading of this poem feels misplaced. (\u201cfor whenever men are right they are not young\u201d)<\/p>\n

far better to roll wordlets with otherthan meanings
\nand let them pool slow in the honey-glad heart<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019ll just reread the poem\u2026<\/p>\n

may my mind stroll about hungry
\nand fearless and thirsty and supple<\/i><\/p>\n

Be well making your way through this perilous, wondrous world.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: e. e. cummings<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems 1904-1962<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n73 Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n1 x 1 [One Times One]<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n50 Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n95 Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"e.<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\ne. e. cummings<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1894 \u2013 1962) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

More poetry by e. e. cummings<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

may my heart always be open to little by e. e. cummings may my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living whatever they sing is better than to know and if men should not hear them men are old may my mind stroll about hungry and fearless and thirsty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1485,748,2581,893,675],"class_list":["post-8520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-birds","tag-e-e-cummings","tag-fearless","tag-heart","tag-knowledge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8521,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8520\/revisions\/8521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}