Who you were then, is who you are now.

Letty darlin', I love ee cummings! One of my faves, for sure!

Crush ..........on me?

Another one here, Letty!
I was introduced to Cummings by my first ever *serious* boyfriend, years ago .... & have loved his poetry since.
Where have all the romantic men gone? <sigh>
I would love for someone to have written me a beautiful poem of love, like E.E. wrote for his beloved. (or was that "beloveds"?)

On our wedding night, I gave my wife a small book of thoughts and poems I had written for the occasion and printed with a nice simple cover bearing the words "SUN * MOON * STARS * RAIN".

Within it, I revisited e.e. cummings' "anyone lived in a pretty how town", writing these stanzas as a personal response to the poem:

Scrat

What a lovely thing to do!:

On our wedding night, I gave my wife a small book of thoughts and poems I had written for the occasion and printed with a nice simple cover bearing the words "SUN * MOON * STARS * RAIN".

Obviously you're a romantic soul!

Boo, you need to visit Rae's "Crush" thread.

It has been said that the first casuality of war is the truth, but I would like to alter that somewhat, and include the arts. A painting, a poem speaks to the social conscience of man, either in support of or against war.

Well, it's quite delightful to recognize that there are still lovers of truth and beauty here.

in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloon man


whistles far and wee


and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring


when the world is puddle-wonderful


the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing


from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the


goat-footed


balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee

e.e.cummings

Just when you think you have cummings pegged...think again. Wonder who the "goat-footed" person represented?

A reference to Pan....?

Viz, I do believe that you are right. Transcribed into today's lingo--child molester.

Ooh, wish you hadn't brought that up. I was just thinking of the happy-go-lucky spirit of Spring. Ah well....

Sorry, honey. Just demonstrating how cummings can turn things inside out...he's not predictable..and that's what I like about him..

What thoughtful and poetic posts I see on this thread today after having been off-line for several days.

Whenever the subject of advancing years comes up, I always remind myself that I am younger at this moment than I ever will be again.

I'm impressed, so many knowing who they ARE. As a kid I was a dreamy sort, always thinking, so wasn't always there when called, especially in school. I knew more than I should because I watched people, seemed to know them even when I didn't. Knew lots of things even when I shouldn't have. Was also humiliated and embarrassed because college wasn't available.

But, years later I found a way to use all those over-sensitive talents, writing stories about people for newspapers - but first managed to get through some college.

As someone said, "she does things in an unorthodox manner but everything comes out OK." Through it all I loved sports and throw my body around constantly and will till the day I die. Worshipped animals, still do, and understand them, too. I'm a big old kid.

Books are written about these things, can't say it in-a-nutshell!

You're okay in my book, Tex-Star!

Keep on keepin on!

The gist of this thread sometimes reminds me of a very old Bob Dylan track: "..ah, but I was so much older then.. I'm younger than that now ..."
I know what he meant!

That's a great thing to understand about yourself [/i]

I forget the source, but I remember an intrigueing* quote from years ago that I identify with. "When I was 17, I thought my father was so dumb.By the time I was 21, I was amazed at how wise he had become." ( Or something like that. ) I say identify, rather than empathize, because, I always had a healthy respect for the wisdom of my father, as well as all my elders, to some extent. I just wasn't aware of HOW MUCH! Oh..............my..................God! .............Why wasn't I picking his brain, more and sooner?


...*I hope that spelling is right. I don't feel like leafing through the Webster's....

The title of this thread is pretty accurate. Experience and knowledge grow and the callender moves ever onward. Memories are always there and for no particular reason one of them will surface. Big memories, small memories. I had to go into the center of London today and I rode a big red London bus the mile or so from the rail terminous to Oxford Street right in the center of town. Downtown. Nothing unusual in that, except that the bus passed 2 movie theatres. The Dominion on Tottenham court Road where I saw South Pacific and across the way on Charing Cross Road where I saw The Alamo. Both were over 40 years ago and films I thougherly enjoyed. I've no idea why they suddenly surfaced in my mind. But the older I get, I find obscure long forgotten events surfacing. Perhaps a form of reassurance, that I'm not going senile, I'm still compus mentus.

Boo, that's our Mr. Samuel Clemens:

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

. . . ah, the inimitable style . . .

I recently accompanied my wife and daughter to a birthday party for our friends' 4-year-old boy that was held at the gymnasium where both he and my daughter take gymnastics classes. At one point his father came over to me--where I was awaiting my turn on the trampoline with the children--and related to me that his son had informed him that I was just a big kid.

I wear that appellation with pride.