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No Thanks
Reissued in an edition newly offset from the authoritative Complete Poems 1904-1962 , edited by George James Firmage. E. E. Cummings, along with Pound, Eliot, and Williams, helped bring about the twentieth-century revolution in literary expression. He is recognized as the author of some of the most beautiful lyric poems written in the English language and also as one of the most inventive American poets of his time. Fresh and candid, by turns earthy, tender, defiant, and romantic, Cummings's poems celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, the need to protest the dehumanizing force of organizations, and the exuberant power of love. No Thanks was first published in 1935; although Cummings was by then in mid-career, he had still not achieved recognition, and the title refers ironically to publishers' rejections. No Thanks contains some of Cummings's most daring literary experiments, and it represents most fully his view of life―romantic individualism. The poems celebrate an openly felt response to the beauties of the natural world, and they give first place to love, especially sexual love, in all its manifestations. The volume includes such favorites as "sonnet entitled how to run the world)," "may I feel said he," "Jehovah buried. Satan dead," "be of love (a little)," and the now-famous grasshopper poem.
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
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About the author
E.E. Cummings
369 books3,950 followersEdward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1894. He began writing poems as early as 1904 and studied Latin and Greek at the Cambridge Latin High School.
He received his BA in 1915 and his MA in 1916, both from Harvard University. His studies there introduced him to the poetry of avant-garde writers, such as Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound.
In 1917, Cummings published an early selection of poems in the anthology Eight Harvard Poets. The same year, Cummings left the United States for France as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I. Five months after his assignment, however, he and a friend were interned in a prison camp by the French authorities on suspicion of espionage (an experience recounted in his novel, The Enormous Room) for his outspoken anti-war convictions.
After the war, he settled into a life divided between houses in rural Connecticut and Greenwich Village, with frequent visits to Paris. He also traveled throughout Europe, meeting poets and artists, including Pablo Picasso, whose work he particularly admired.
In 1920, The Dial published seven poems by Cummings, including "Buffalo Bill ’s.” Serving as Cummings’ debut to a wider American audience, these “experiments” foreshadowed the synthetic cubist strategy Cummings would explore in the next few years.
In his work, Cummings experimented radically with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a new, highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. Later in his career, he was often criticized for settling into his signature style and not pressing his work toward further evolution. Nevertheless, he attained great popularity, especially among young readers, for the simplicity of his language, his playful mode and his attention to subjects such as war and sex.
The poet and critic Randall Jarrell once noted that Cummings is “one of the most individual poets who ever lived—and, though it sometimes seems so, it is not just his vices and exaggerations, the defects of his qualities, that make a writer popular. But, primarily, Mr. Cummings’s poems are loved because they are full of sentimentally, of sex, of more or less improper jokes, of elementary lyric insistence.”
During his lifetime, Cummings received a number of honors, including an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, two Guggenheim Fellowships, the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard, the Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1958, and a Ford Foundation grant.
At the time of his death, September 3, 1962, he was the second most widely read poet in the United States, after Robert Frost. He is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
source: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/e-...
He received his BA in 1915 and his MA in 1916, both from Harvard University. His studies there introduced him to the poetry of avant-garde writers, such as Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound.
In 1917, Cummings published an early selection of poems in the anthology Eight Harvard Poets. The same year, Cummings left the United States for France as a volunteer ambulance driver in World War I. Five months after his assignment, however, he and a friend were interned in a prison camp by the French authorities on suspicion of espionage (an experience recounted in his novel, The Enormous Room) for his outspoken anti-war convictions.
After the war, he settled into a life divided between houses in rural Connecticut and Greenwich Village, with frequent visits to Paris. He also traveled throughout Europe, meeting poets and artists, including Pablo Picasso, whose work he particularly admired.
In 1920, The Dial published seven poems by Cummings, including "Buffalo Bill ’s.” Serving as Cummings’ debut to a wider American audience, these “experiments” foreshadowed the synthetic cubist strategy Cummings would explore in the next few years.
In his work, Cummings experimented radically with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a new, highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. Later in his career, he was often criticized for settling into his signature style and not pressing his work toward further evolution. Nevertheless, he attained great popularity, especially among young readers, for the simplicity of his language, his playful mode and his attention to subjects such as war and sex.
The poet and critic Randall Jarrell once noted that Cummings is “one of the most individual poets who ever lived—and, though it sometimes seems so, it is not just his vices and exaggerations, the defects of his qualities, that make a writer popular. But, primarily, Mr. Cummings’s poems are loved because they are full of sentimentally, of sex, of more or less improper jokes, of elementary lyric insistence.”
During his lifetime, Cummings received a number of honors, including an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, two Guggenheim Fellowships, the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard, the Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1958, and a Ford Foundation grant.
At the time of his death, September 3, 1962, he was the second most widely read poet in the United States, after Robert Frost. He is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts.
source: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/e-...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
February 7, 2017
"to hell with literature
we want something red-blooded"
lousy with pure
reeking with stark
and fearlessly obscene."
- E.E. Cummings, No Thanks
No Thanks
i fall &up
on these tease verse
most days downs up
sung whys? not worse!
we lose &find
words made (opaque
dreams) dizzy mind
joyceIS aWAKE.
chagall piSS paintS
jazz all must play
dayS iS&aintS
jizz SeekShis lay.
words MESSis made
& founds again
night's meter strayed
mOOn's madeleine.
we want something red-blooded"
lousy with pure
reeking with stark
and fearlessly obscene."
- E.E. Cummings, No Thanks
No Thanks
i fall &up
on these tease verse
most days downs up
sung whys? not worse!
we lose &find
words made (opaque
dreams) dizzy mind
joyceIS aWAKE.
chagall piSS paintS
jazz all must play
dayS iS&aintS
jizz SeekShis lay.
words MESSis made
& founds again
night's meter strayed
mOOn's madeleine.
August 22, 2021
King Christ, this world is all aleak;
and lifepreservers there are none:
and waves which only He may walk
Who dares to call himself a man.
My best friend drove home from here through the hurricane. Such was on my mind when I encountered the above. There’s a rumor that I dismissed cummings as a remarkable poet. That’s false or I was mistaken.
Dead wrong, dig?
The experience was akin to reading Derrida. Strumming the polyvalent but in terms of grammar and allusion. The latter is subject to use. Isn’t such a provisional utility a benefit of both Pragmatism and Post-Structuralism? I’ll be dipped, as I’ve heard mentioned. Read these poems, aloud.
and lifepreservers there are none:
and waves which only He may walk
Who dares to call himself a man.
My best friend drove home from here through the hurricane. Such was on my mind when I encountered the above. There’s a rumor that I dismissed cummings as a remarkable poet. That’s false or I was mistaken.
Dead wrong, dig?
The experience was akin to reading Derrida. Strumming the polyvalent but in terms of grammar and allusion. The latter is subject to use. Isn’t such a provisional utility a benefit of both Pragmatism and Post-Structuralism? I’ll be dipped, as I’ve heard mentioned. Read these poems, aloud.
February 7, 2017
I wish I could appreciate this more. There were sparks of brilliance, but no connections... none to me, at least. Poetry is a language in itself, and it turns out not everyone speaks it the same way.
October 12, 2019
Cummings seems to have just one trick, and it isn’t that interesting.
September 27, 2017
i think iunderstand why so
m.a"n%y
didn#t wàñ+
+0 publishthis
b
o
0
kkkkkkkk
If you found the above annoying and pointless, dont bother reading this book. Similar feelings will result.
m.a"n%y
didn#t wàñ+
+0 publishthis
b
o
0
kkkkkkkk
If you found the above annoying and pointless, dont bother reading this book. Similar feelings will result.
September 2, 2024
i’m so over cummings lol
August 14, 2024
nourish my failure with thy freedom
January 28, 2014
Fueling Art
The intersection between creativity and philosophy functions as the most efficient fuel for art. Our view of the world and the way we express our beliefs about it translate remarkably well into deep and beautiful art.
Alternatively, art also works well as criticism. Those positions—philosophical, political, theological—can become rather absurd when taken to logical conclusions. Think Orwell’s work in Animal Farm or 1984.
E. E. Cummings’ poetry offers a unique window to his weltanschauung. No Thanks, in particular, exhibits Cummings at his most abstract. The title is a proverbial middle finger to the 14 publishers that passed on the manuscript; the poetry can be almost unreadable.
Artform
In fact, many of the poems only present meaning when the reader takes a step back and attempts to view the poem as a whole instead of reading it word for word.
Consider this poem on baseball:
The words flow into and out of each other, exhibiting multiple meanings depending on how closely one tries to read the text. In this way, it’s almost easier to “read” No Thanks in the same way you would “read” a painting—by stepping back and taking it all in over the course of a few minutes.
Romantic Individualism
Thematically, No Thanks illustrates Cummings’ philosophy of romantic individualism. His poetry is decidedly instinctive, where perception works in concert with feeling. This belief functions as a reaction against intellect and reason. Cummings would much rather orbit around an esoteric concept of love than a grounded and rigid system of the mind.
He ponders,
No Thanks is an abstract and almost “unreadable” read. But, in its complicated lyrics, Cummings reacts against the dominant structures of the world and proposes a view based on instinct and emotion. As with many great works of art, Cummings’ connection to his belief system provides fertile ground for art. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I recommend No Thanks.
Originally published at http://www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
The intersection between creativity and philosophy functions as the most efficient fuel for art. Our view of the world and the way we express our beliefs about it translate remarkably well into deep and beautiful art.
Alternatively, art also works well as criticism. Those positions—philosophical, political, theological—can become rather absurd when taken to logical conclusions. Think Orwell’s work in Animal Farm or 1984.
E. E. Cummings’ poetry offers a unique window to his weltanschauung. No Thanks, in particular, exhibits Cummings at his most abstract. The title is a proverbial middle finger to the 14 publishers that passed on the manuscript; the poetry can be almost unreadable.
Artform
In fact, many of the poems only present meaning when the reader takes a step back and attempts to view the poem as a whole instead of reading it word for word.
Consider this poem on baseball:
“o pr
gress verily thou art m
mentous superc
lossal hyperpr
digious etc i kn
w & if you d
n’t why g
to yonder s
called newsreel s
called theatre & with your
wn eyes beh
ld The
(The president The
president of the president
of the The)president of
the (united The president of the
united states The president of the united
states of The President Of The)United States
Of America unde negant redire quemquam supp
sedly thr
w
i
n
g
a
b
aseball” (14).
The words flow into and out of each other, exhibiting multiple meanings depending on how closely one tries to read the text. In this way, it’s almost easier to “read” No Thanks in the same way you would “read” a painting—by stepping back and taking it all in over the course of a few minutes.
Romantic Individualism
Thematically, No Thanks illustrates Cummings’ philosophy of romantic individualism. His poetry is decidedly instinctive, where perception works in concert with feeling. This belief functions as a reaction against intellect and reason. Cummings would much rather orbit around an esoteric concept of love than a grounded and rigid system of the mind.
He ponders,
“love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places
yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skillfully curled)
all worlds” (70).
No Thanks is an abstract and almost “unreadable” read. But, in its complicated lyrics, Cummings reacts against the dominant structures of the world and proposes a view based on instinct and emotion. As with many great works of art, Cummings’ connection to his belief system provides fertile ground for art. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I recommend No Thanks.
Originally published at http://www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
January 17, 2022
No Thanks is so-named because, according to the introduction, Cummings struggled to find a publisher for his book of poems. Although he had already published five volumes of poetry (including
is 5
), a play (
Him
), a collection of artwork, and works of prose (including
The Enormous Room
), American publishers were "floundering in the slough of the Great Depression"...
The Great Depression was only the first obstacle preventing No Thanks from being published. The second, according to the introduction, was Cummings radical shift in style - "No Thanks contains more linguistic experiments and more obscurities than any volume Cummings ever produced."
For the same reason, No Thanks is one of my favourite of Cummings's poetry collections. Reading any of his poetry collections, I'm always most drawn to the poems in which Cummings challenges the reader by discombobulating the conventions of line, syntax, and punctuation...
The declaration of "No Thanks" which Cummings placed at the beginning of the book lists the publishers who turned him down - their names arranged carefully to form the shape of a funeral urn.
- from the Introduction
NO
THANKS
TO
Farrar & Rinehart
Simon & Schuster
Coward - McCann
LimitedEditions
Harcourt, Brace
Random House
Equinox Press
Smith & Hass
Viking Press
Knopf
Dutton
Harper's
Scribner's
Covici-Friede
- from the title page
The Great Depression was only the first obstacle preventing No Thanks from being published. The second, according to the introduction, was Cummings radical shift in style - "No Thanks contains more linguistic experiments and more obscurities than any volume Cummings ever produced."
For the same reason, No Thanks is one of my favourite of Cummings's poetry collections. Reading any of his poetry collections, I'm always most drawn to the poems in which Cummings challenges the reader by discombobulating the conventions of line, syntax, and punctuation...
o pr
gress verily thou art m
mentous superc
lossal hyperpr
digious etc i kn
w & if you d
n't why g
to yonder s
called newsreel s
called theatre & with your
wn eyes beh
ld The
(The president The
president of The president
of the The)president of
the(united The president of the
united states The president of the united
states of The President Of The)United States
Of America unde negant redire quemquam supp
sadly thr
w
i
n
g
a
b
aseball
- 9
r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r
who
a)s w(e loo)k
upnowgath
PPEGORHRASS
eringint(o-
aThe):l
eA
!p:
S a
(r
rIvInG .gRrEaPsPhOs)
to
rea(be)ran(com)go(e)ngly
,grasshopper;
- 13
go(prep)go
(tu)to(al
adve
nturin
g p
article
s of s
ini
sterd
exte
ri)go to(ty)the(om
nivorou salways lugbrin
g ingseekfindlosin g
motilities
are)go to
the ant
(al
ways
alingwaysing)
go to the ant thou go
(inging)
to the
ant, thou ant-
eater
- 20
snow)says!Says
over un
graves
der,speaking
(says.word
Less)ly(goes
folds?folds)cold
stones(o-l-d)names
aren'ts
)L
iv
es(c
omeS
says)s;n;o;w(says
W
I
elds)
un
forgetting
un.
der(they)the
:se!crumbs things?Its
noyesiyou
he-she
(Weres
- 34
as if as
if a my
teriouSly("i am alive"
)
brave
ly and(th
e moon's al0down)most whis
per(here)ingc r O
wing;ly:cry.be,gi N s agAins
t b
ecomin
gsky?t r e e s
!
m ore&(o uto f)mor e torn(f og r
e
elingwhiRls)are pouring rush fields drea
mf(ull
y
are.)
&
som
ewhereishbudofshape
now,s
tI
r
ghost
?s
tirf lic;k
e rsM-o
:ke(c.
l
i,
m
!
b
)& it:s;elf,
mmamakmakemakesWwOwoRworLworlD
- 40
floatfloafloflf
lloloa
tatoatloatf loat fl oat
f loatI ngL
y
&fris
klispin
glyT
w
irlErec
,
t,
;d
;:a:
nC.eda:Nci;ddaanncciinn
(GIY)
a
nda
n-saint
dance!Dan
Sai ntd anc
&e&
--cupidoergosum
spun=flash
omiepsicronlonO--
megaeta?
P
aul D-as-in-tip-toe r
apeR
- 48
birds(
here,inven
ting air
U
)sing
tw
iligH(
t's
v
va
vas
vast
ness.Be)look
now
(come
soul;
&:and
who
s)e
voi
c
es
(
are
ar
a
- 63
Do.
omful
relaxing
-ly)i
downrise outwrithein-
ing upfall and
Am the glad deep the living from nowh
-ere(!firm!)exp-
anding,am a fe
-rvently(susta-
inin
-gness Am
root air rock day)
:you;
smile,hands
(an-onymo
-Us
- 64
September 4, 2017
e.e. cummings was a true pioneer of drunk texting.
----
at dusk
just when
the Light is filled with birds
seriously
i begin
to climb the best hill,
driven by black wine.
a village does not move behind
my eye
the windmills are
silent
their flattened arms
complain steadily against the west
one Clock dimly cries
nine ,i stride among the vines
(my heart pursues
against the little moon
a here and there lark
who;rises,
and;droops
as if upon a thread invisible)
A graveyard dreams through its
cluttered and brittle emblems,or
a field(and i pause among
the smell of minute mown lives)oh
my spirit you
tumble
climb
and mightily fatally
i remark how through deep lifted
fields Oxen distinctly move,a
yellowandbluish cat(perched why
Curvingly at this)window;yes
women sturdily meander in my
mind,woven by always upon
sunset,
crickets within me whisper
whose erect blood finally
trembles,emerging to perceive
buried in cliff
precisely
at the Ending of this road,
a candle in a shrine:
its puniest flame persists
shaken by the sea
----
at dusk
just when
the Light is filled with birds
seriously
i begin
to climb the best hill,
driven by black wine.
a village does not move behind
my eye
the windmills are
silent
their flattened arms
complain steadily against the west
one Clock dimly cries
nine ,i stride among the vines
(my heart pursues
against the little moon
a here and there lark
who;rises,
and;droops
as if upon a thread invisible)
A graveyard dreams through its
cluttered and brittle emblems,or
a field(and i pause among
the smell of minute mown lives)oh
my spirit you
tumble
climb
and mightily fatally
i remark how through deep lifted
fields Oxen distinctly move,a
yellowandbluish cat(perched why
Curvingly at this)window;yes
women sturdily meander in my
mind,woven by always upon
sunset,
crickets within me whisper
whose erect blood finally
trembles,emerging to perceive
buried in cliff
precisely
at the Ending of this road,
a candle in a shrine:
its puniest flame persists
shaken by the sea
April 16, 2024
i love this strange and wonderful man. in one moment, he’s all: “and that which we die for lives as fully as that which we live for dies”, then in the next, he’s all: “)roUnd ingrOungIngly rouNdar(round)ounDing; ball balll ballll balllll”
but my personal fav, short and sweet (58):
love is a place
& through this place of
love moves
(with brightness of peace)
all places
yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds
but my personal fav, short and sweet (58):
love is a place
& through this place of
love moves
(with brightness of peace)
all places
yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds
July 19, 2017
There are a handful of gems in this collection of poems. For the most part the poetry reads more like an annoying cryptic message than a piece of art. Referencing all the publishers that denied him publication is strange to me. Rejection should be an expectation for writers. His focus on Random House and other publications - although brief - is unnecessary.
April 14, 2023
I thought I would like this more. I have enjoyed e.e. cummings' poetry since I was in high school and assumed that I would like this. While his inventive format and use of punctuation was there, I did not feel drawn to the subject matter. Oh well. I will go back and read his other books of poetry.
March 21, 2019
Book #10 completed for Book Riot Challenge 2019: "A self-published book"
ee cummings is so much fun to read. This particular collection showcased more of his later punctuation stylings, yet had several that were poignant, heartfelt and just plain funny.
ee cummings is so much fun to read. This particular collection showcased more of his later punctuation stylings, yet had several that were poignant, heartfelt and just plain funny.
December 26, 2017
This collection was okay. I didn’t like it as much as other Cummings poetry that I’ve read, but there were a few that I really enjoyed.
December 18, 2018
A enjoyed a few of the poems that I could understand. I think I need to EE Cummings for Dummies before I revisit this.
June 5, 2022
poems: 1, 3, 9, 12, 21, 29, 33, 34, 36, 41, 42, 49, 50, 52, 57, 58, 61, 62, 63, 68.
Read
July 20, 2024No thanks
December 16, 2022
It’s not even 100 pages and it took me forever to read. I’m not saying the writing is bad, I just didn’t get it and it’s not for me personally.
December 27, 2023
I read this for Read Harder, specifically the self published entry. I have no idea how I found it and I'm surprised I finished it, even though it's not even 100 pages. The introduction literally says that it was self-published because no publishing houses would really pick it up in the middle of the depression and also that it "contains more linguistic experiments and more obscurities than any volume Cummings ever produced" which is basically a polite way of saying that half of these poems were keysmashes and the other half read like they're written with predictive text.
I'm sometimes a bit of an idiot and I like writing that's a little more shallow, but I could not even remotely attempt to understand these.
*
-open your thighs to fate and(if you can withholding nothing)World, conceive a man
here's to opening and upward, to leaf and to sap and to your(in my arms and flowering so new) self whose eyes smell of the sound of rain
only who'll say "and this be my fame, the harder the wind blows the taller I am"
love's function is to fabricate unknownness
I'm sometimes a bit of an idiot and I like writing that's a little more shallow, but I could not even remotely attempt to understand these.
*
-open your thighs to fate and(if you can withholding nothing)World, conceive a man
here's to opening and upward, to leaf and to sap and to your(in my arms and flowering so new) self whose eyes smell of the sound of rain
only who'll say "and this be my fame, the harder the wind blows the taller I am"
love's function is to fabricate unknownness
September 13, 2008
Angela gave this to me while she was doing her radio show to keep me occupied.
WOW. People have jokingly told me to read e e cummings, but I have stayed away from poetry in the past years much for the same reasons that I have stayed away from impressionistic art. E e cummings blew me away. I never knew ... damn you all who weren't serious when you told me to check him out! I think this book will stay in my bag for a while, as each poem can be read a dozen, or a hundred times over with a different effect each time.
I really, really enjoyed my first pass at e e cummings, and would love any recommendation anyone can make along these lines. This seems like the perfect prep to a visit to the New Art museum.
WOW. People have jokingly told me to read e e cummings, but I have stayed away from poetry in the past years much for the same reasons that I have stayed away from impressionistic art. E e cummings blew me away. I never knew ... damn you all who weren't serious when you told me to check him out! I think this book will stay in my bag for a while, as each poem can be read a dozen, or a hundred times over with a different effect each time.
I really, really enjoyed my first pass at e e cummings, and would love any recommendation anyone can make along these lines. This seems like the perfect prep to a visit to the New Art museum.
April 13, 2008
I don't know if I'm dumb, or if Cummings is just a bunch of BS, but either way, his work is way over my head...or under it. I don't know which.
I do like his grasshopper poem though. and mOOn Over tOwns mOOn. and the silent night poem, but I had to have help understanding it. The rest has some good stuff in it, but I need a lot of help understanding it.
I do like his grasshopper poem though. and mOOn Over tOwns mOOn. and the silent night poem, but I had to have help understanding it. The rest has some good stuff in it, but I need a lot of help understanding it.
May 3, 2016
In my eyes, one of the greats. Love the list in the front where he says "No thanks" to all those publishers who refused him. Many current issues emerge from the poetry here even though it is decades since publication. Who cannot weep over "I Sing of Olaf"? Try alternating a poem from this book with one from "Field Work." Lovely comparisons.
Want to read
August 7, 2017"E.E. Cummings wrote a book of poems that was turned down by 14 publishers. He finally published it under the title "No Thanks." The dedication was a list of all the publishers who had rejected it, arranged in the shape of a funeral urn."
http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/...
http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/...
April 3, 2015
Three stars is less a reflection of the book than of my inability to understand many of the poems therein. There are many challenging works here, but even still, wonderful lines stand out: "to have tasted Beautiful to have known Only to have smelled Happens". Difficult as this book often was, I'm happy to say it did not put me off exploring more Cummings.
June 2, 2007
i would be in love with cummings if he wasn't such a weirdo.
AND i did a presentation with another goodreads friend in 10th grade on this book. it was very "intellectual..." and it was a film. with interspersed poetry readings.
AND i did a presentation with another goodreads friend in 10th grade on this book. it was very "intellectual..." and it was a film. with interspersed poetry readings.
September 2, 2011
I love Cummings. I picked this book up for some of his more experimental poetry and fell in love. Some favorites are "here's to opening and upwards" and "o pr-". I go back and reread the poetry in this book frequently.
March 19, 2015
Favorites:
that which we who're alive in spite of mirrors
may i feel said he
o sure)but nobody unders(no
move deeply,rain (dream hugely)wish
sometimes in)Spring a someone will lie(glued
much I cannot) tear up the world:& toss
love's a function is to fabricate unknownness
that which we who're alive in spite of mirrors
may i feel said he
o sure)but nobody unders(no
move deeply,rain (dream hugely)wish
sometimes in)Spring a someone will lie(glued
much I cannot) tear up the world:& toss
love's a function is to fabricate unknownness
April 1, 2017
Very difficult for me to read many of these poems because of his unusual formatting and writing style. However, there were a few gems in here - 'the boys I mean are not refined' was my favorite poem in this book.
November 23, 2008
Bizarre and uncompromising.
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