I was a little surprised to discover that I had marked this poem as one of my favorites the first time I read it long ago while in college. I suspect I must have liked it for very different reasons than i do now:
136
oDE
o
the sweet & aged people
who rule this world(and me and
you if we’re not very
careful)
O,
the darling benevolent mindless
He-and She-
shaped waxworks filled
with dead ideas(the oh
quintillions of incredible
dodderingly godly toothless
always-so-much-interested-
in-everybody-else’s-business
bipeds)OH
the bothering
dear unnecessary hairless
o
ld
As a college student I must have seen this as a rebellious statement, now I find myself worrying I’ve become that doddering old fool “filled with dead ideas.” It’s hard not to feel like a dinosaur when you go to your local Blockbuster and can’t find a single movie you really want to sit through. Is that really music they play on most local stations? No wonder the record companies are complaining about losing money.
I must admit that every time I look at some “dodderingly godly toothless/ always-so-much-interested-/ in-everybody-else’s-business” Republican explaining why we must Stay The Course i’m pissed that the Republican party is giving a bad name to us poor old white guys.
LOL! I know what you mean, especially about movies and old people interested in everyone’s business!
Many thanks for this mini-revival. It’s been many years since I read the collected e.e. cummings and am surprised, reading your recent posts, at how emotionally etched and resonant they seem to be still for me. Nice to think I apparently haven’t become as irredeemably cynical as I thought I had…
All best, Nic
Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.