Crepuscule
by Edward Estlin Cummings
I will wade out
till my thighs are steeped in burn-
ing flowers
I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness
in the sleeping curves of my
body
Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery
with chasteness of sea-girls
Will I complete the mystery
of my flesh
I will rise
After a thousand years
lipping
flowers
And set my teeth in the silver of the moon
E.
E.
Cummings
was
born
in
Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
on
October
14,
1894.
His
poetry
collections
include
No
Thanks
(The
Golden
Eagle
Press,
1935),
W(ViVa)
(Liveright,
1931),
and
Tulips
and
Chimneys
(T.
Seltzer,
1923),
among
others.
He
died
on September 3, 1962, in North Conway, New Hampshire.