Today is e.e.cummings birthday so I thought it appropriate to print one of his poems below. It is one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy it too! Smiles, Sharon

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
by E. E. Cummings


somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look will easily unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

I wrote this poem for a friend back in October of 1997. I wish for her today a happier Autumn.

SPIRALS

My life in spirals downward swirls
like the Autumn leaves.
Alone I watch outside the squirrels
become early trick-or-treat thieves.
Fall with its fun and folly...
the annual State Fair,
Halloween and hayrides,
the cool, enticing air
always invites Melancholy
to pull up a chair at my table.
She smokes cigarettes and drinks coffee,
and talks when I'm not able
of past regrets and sorrows,
and my fear of cold tomorrows.
We hash it over time and again,
write a few poems, call up an old friend.
And then she announces it's time to go.
And leaves me alone to lament the lack of snow.
10/17/97

Sharona

A MESSENGER

October sent a messenger last night
to whisper that her arrival would be soon.
As the breeze tickled at my eyelashes,
I sent a wink back to her, and smiled.

Sharona

Whether one is decorating a house, or one's soul, I think this will apply. I found this quote in a magazine. It is by Peter Dunham:
"Books transend the traditional-contemporary divide. All houses should have them...books in piles, center tables of books, walls of books. I don't mean books by the yard, those unopened leatherbound volumes of Shakespeare bought solely for decoration. But if you have tons of picture books, reference books, novels and so on, it adds color, rhythm, and sculptural beauty as well as evidence of the spiritual and the cultural. They breathe atmosphere and life into a room." What do you think? Smiles, Sharon

" I kindness started, flows forever..." Rod Mckuen I few of you will have already received this line from me. I had to give it out to each of you, because the kindness that I have received here has been a joy to me, and I hope to return the favor every day. Thanks. Smiles, Sharon