[in Just-] by E. E. Cummings

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious 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

On this 70 degree day in Chicago, spring arrived in just the right time for the start of our break, and in just the right time for me to give my students one day of reading and writing poetry to welcome spring.  We read [in Just-] and then went outside to write poems in celebration of spring.  My students were genuinely excited, if not to be writing poetry, at least to be spending time outdoors on this lovely, but prematurely warm, day.  One of my classes actually took to this notion of writing as welcome to spring with some passion, and eagerly shared bits and pieces of in process poems with me.  At the end of the class period, we rimmed the playground, dewy wood chips under our feet, and read the poems written only moments before.  Some were silly, some rhymed, some were ironic, but all contained a bit of Cummings’ playful excitement and childlike celebration of spring. We snapped our fingers in appreciation as each poem came to its close.

Spring has arrived [In just-] the nick of time.

Advertisement