A Poem for Spring - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the bookshelves of
children's author and educator
Barbara Jean Hicks,
Guest Columnist

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I gave myself the gift of three new books of poetry: 100 Selected Poems by e.e. cummings, 100 Love Sonnets by Pablo Neruda, translated by Stephen Tapscott, and Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology, translated and edited by David Hinton. A wonderful, eclectic mix!

Spring has come to the little corner of the world where I'm living, and I'm loving it. Days are getting longer, the flowering cherries and the rhododendrons are in bloom, the spring showers are a bit warmer than the winter rains and the world is "puddle-wonderful"! So for those of you enjoying Spring in your corner of the world--and those of you who haven't yet seen Spring!--here's one of my favorite spring poems from e.e. cummings.

[in Just-]

BY E.E. CUMMINGS

in Just-
spring       when the world is mud-
licious the little
lame balloonman

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