Loneliness and Sex: A Dangerous Combination

FreeVerse is a weekly meme created by Ooh…Books. The idea behind in the meme is to celebrate poetry is some way or fashion.

Two of my favorite poems are by e.e. cummings have completely different themes. One is about loneliness and is called “1(a”, which I realize is a bit of an odd title, but once you see the entire poem, then it will make sense. The other, “she being Brand” is about two manly obsessions: new cars and sex.

1(a

Every letter, symbol and word in this poem reeks of solitude. Depending on my mood, this poem will either make me weep with despair at how alone I am in the world or smile with joy at the rare moments of respite that I get. Either way, I always enjoy the complexity of this simple piece of work.

1(a

le
af
fa
ll

s)
one
l

iness

she being Brand

The next poem that I love of e.e. cummings is “she being Brand.”  On the outside, this appears to be a poem about a recently purchased vehicle, but upon deeper inspection this poem is completely, one hundred percent about sex. Frankly, you don’t need to look too deep to catch the meaning of this poem.

she being Brand

-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was

careful of her and(having

thoroughly oiled the universal
joint tested my gas felt of
her radiator made sure her springs were O.

K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her

up,slipped the
clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
kicked what
the hell)next
minute i was back in neutral tried and

again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my

lev-er Right-
oh and her gears being in
A 1 shape passed
from low through
second-in-to-high like
greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity

avenue i touched the accelerator and give

her the juice,good

(it

was the first ride and believe i we was
happy to see how nice she acted right up to
the last minute coming back down by the Public
Gardens i slammed on

the
internalexpanding
&
externalcontracting
brakes Bothatonce and

brought allofher tremB
-ling
to a:dead.

stand-
;Still)