On rainy spring days I am reminded of Mr. Schulz’ 11^th Grade Creative Writing Class. It was there I realized how much I like to write. And it was there that I discovered a world of poetry outside Whitman and Shakespeare, who lived behind dusty jacket covers in our house. I discovered William Carlos Williams and ee cummings, master rebel writers who shirked the duties of punctuation.  I think I like them mainly for their simplicity. And, whatever else they may have accomplished with their lives, I will always associate them with rainy, muddy spring days.

 

The Red Wheel Barrow

By William Carlos Williams

so much depends

upon

 

a red wheel

barrow

 

glazed with rain

water

 

beside the white

chickens.

 

[in Just-]

By ee 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