Branching Out: Some Good*ss Poetry

     I have always loved poetry.  I view it as one of the most powerful and effective mediums to convey emotion.  Poetry is like music to me- reading a good poem has the same euphoric and exhilarating effect on me as hearing a new song I really like.  I was one of those Dr. Seuss fanatic kids- my mom always tells the story of how one year I sat on mall Santa's lap and, instead of asking for a Barbie doll or American Girl like a normal girl, recited the entire contents of the book One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and was eventually ushered out of the plastic winter wonderland set-up by some very disgruntled elves.  Fortunately, my taste in poetry has matured, as has the audience I choose to share my findings with.  Which is why I figured you guys would be the perfect audience to share with :)

My Favorite Poem of All Time:

My favorite poem of all time is by ee cummings, who just happens to me my favorite poet of all time.  ee cummings is a weird dude- his poems are trippy and take some getting used to.  He completely shuns all grammatical norms and instead chooses to write choppy, nonsensical phrases with random capitalizations and punctuation marks.  And I love it.  How refreshing to break away from iambic pentameter, from those poems we read and write in English class with every third line rhyming and so on.  So, here it is:

i carry your heart with me by ee cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) Damn.  You've probably heard that before, and it still gets me every time.  I love everything about it- I love the emotion, the passion the poet feels made tangible to the audience.  It blows my mind. Next poem: XXXV by Emily Dickinson. I love Emily Dickinson.  Homegirl's a little crazy, but hey, she's an amazing poet.  I once read she didn't leave her house for like three years in a row.  And I'm okay with that, because she had some amazing poetry to show for it. PROUD of my broken heart since thou didst break it,   Proud of the pain I did not feel till thee, Proud of my night since thou with moons dost slake it,   Not to partake thy passion, my humility. There you go :) Hope you guys enjoyed these two gems.  And if not, stick to Dr. Seuss.