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Whereas By Dark Really Released,The Modern

E. E. Cummings

whereas by dark really released,the modern
flame of her indomitable body
uses a careful fierceness.  Her lips study
my head gripping for a decision:burn
the terrific fingers which grapple and joke
on my passionate anatomy
oh yes!  Large legs pinch,toes choke—
hair-thin strands of magic agony
….by day this lady in her limousine

oozes in fashionable traffic,just
a halfsmile (for society’s sweet sake)
in the not too frail lips almost discussed;
between her and ourselves a nearly-opaque
perfume disinterestedly obscene.
Online text © 1998-2008 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Tulips and Chimneys | New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1923
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