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A continuing selection of classic and contemporary poems.

The Phonograph’s Voice Like A Keen Spider Skipping

E. E. Cummings

(the phonograph’s voice like a keen spider skipping

quickly over patriotic swill.
The,negress,in the,rocker by the,curb,tipping

and tipping,the flocks of pigeons.  And the skil-

ful loneliness,and the rather fat
man in bluishsuspenders half-reading the
Evening Something
                      in the normal window.  and a cat.

A cat waiting for god knows makes me

wonder if i’m alive(eye pries,

not open.  Tail stirs.)  And the. fire-escapes—
the night. makes me wonder if,if i am
the face of a baby smeared with beautiful jam

or

  my invincible Nearness rapes

laughter from your preferable,eyes
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Tulips and Chimneys | New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1923
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