by greenmountaineer
CoJ: good catch re guise. That wasn't my intention, so any edited version would lose the word because it's contrary to the theme which PSLL articulated very well.
I LOVE e. e. cummings (are we capitalizing him now? It seems like such a monotonous shame.) and this poem channeled him ridiculously well. I don't think I'd ever have the wit or courage to manage the kind of playfulness you and he both manage to cram into your words. But I sure do appreciate the way you do it.
More specific to this poem, I really liked what I took to be the central idea of the poem. I kinda feel like we're living in a very libertarian, hubris filled period and it's nice to see a poem that embraces the communal nature of art and the importance of accepting others into our lives and work to improve ourselves. Or I totally misread the poem. I give that a good 50-50 chance.
funny! and thanks for the clarification. I thought it meant as you wrote in the comment, with he being some type of inner voice of Frank.
s_m--hmmmm, sounds interesting--see what the wife thinks about it (she used profanity when I asked her--big smile)
Do you mean to say "guise" - as the representation or appearance of sympathy? Or do you truly mean 'guys' as the slangy plural that it is :O) 'Cause of Harry, Dick, and Tom as players, that would make some sense. *grin*
I see the sympathy of their assistance as well-weaning but not thoroughly heartfelt, a guise.
Thanks for the submission - it's a fun read to run through!
I think I see the possible confusion. "he" refers to "Frank" throughout the poem; however, if I had to do it over again, line 3 would read:
"he frankly thought the world would prize"
hoping that the adverb juxtaposed with the pronoun would clarify any confusion.
BTW, speaking of word play, do I dare call you s_m?(It is Literotica after all. LOL)
I've been discussing this with my wife and we disagree on your intention of the 'he', so clear it up for me---sometimes I'm slooowwwwwwwww.
some cool word play while getting across your intention. I like stuff like this and had to read it three times for it to sink in. The 'he' in the third line kinda threw me off. Is the he referring to the guys? After that, meaning cleared up for me.
brain's not in the right space but had to let you know i truly enjoyed this read. high fives