Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Buffalo Bill's defunct by e. e. cummings

Buffalo Bill's
        defunct
               who used to
               ride a watersmooth-silver
                                        stallion
        and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat
                                                         Jesus
        he was a handsome man
                             and what i want to know is
        how do you like your blueeyed boy
        Mister Death

e.e. cummings served with the Red Cross ambulance corps during WWI and was profoundly affected by what he witnessed.  He developed a rather interesting set of grammar and spelling rules that were entirely his own, mostly in reaction to his sense that the world no longer operated according to logical order.  One may see this in his meditation on violence,, as well as in how he chose to spell his name.  It is among the most aural of poetic styles.