Saturday, November 19, 2011

Classic Poetry - “'kitty'. sixteen,5'1",white,prostitute” by E.E. Cummings



Chimneys XII: “'kitty'. sixteen,5'1",white,prostitute”
BY E. E. CUMMINGS

ducking always the touch of must and shall,
whose slippery body is Death's littlest pal,

skilled in quick softness. Unspontaneous. cute.

the signal perfume of whose unrepute
focusses in the sweet slow animal
bottomless eyes importantly banal,

Kitty. a whore. Sixteen
you corking brute
amused from time to time by clever drolls
fearsomely who do keep their sunday flower.
The babybreasted broad "kitty" twice eight

—beer nothing,the lady'll have a whiskey-sour—

whose least amazing smile is the most great
common divisor of unequal souls.

Want to know more about the man touted as the most innovative of 20th century poets? Click on over to The Poetry Foundation for a fascinating brief biography of E. E. Cummings.

5 comments:

  1. Oh how I love cummings! And what a treat to see a poem of his that I didn't know.

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  2. I too love cummings and have not heard of this poem! He really touched upon, the depth and spirit of the lifestyle~ Amazing, the last line really sizzles for me, "common divisor of unequal souls"

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  3. This was a wonderful reminder of my favorite poet when I was 15 or so. Most excellent! Thank you

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  4. Hi, I am an English literature student from Indonesia. I actually wrote about cummings in my final thesis. I am glad that you put one of his poems since his quirkiness and power of words never fail to fascinate me (even though my professors don't agree with me).

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  5. I love him so much! one of my inspirations...

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