spring is like...

One of my favorite poets is e.e. cummings, and I was thinking about his poem "spring is like a perhaps hand" the other day when we visited the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.  As many of you know, I love to travel, and while in Tucson for a conference this last weekend, we did something fun for my husband which was to indulge his Wild West fancies.            Have you ever been to a tourist location before it "opens" for business?  That's what reminded me of this poem.  We got to Tombstone relatively early... around 9:30.  Since most of the stores didn't open until 10, and since it was the weekend, the town was still in the process of "waking up" when we got there.   We went into one of the small cafes for a quick breakfast, and while we were in there several of the store owners and tourist operators were stopping in for their own breakfast.  Everyone in town dresses in the style of the late 1800's, so it was fun to see the high boots and spurs on the men, and the long skirts and prairie tops of the women.  We walked out onto the main street just a little after 10, and you could see the town slowly coming to life. 

As we came in and out of stores, you started to see more people on the streets and soon the town was humming along.  More cowboys showed up.  Fights broke out on the streets.  A lot of tourists came in costume.  It's always an amazing thing for me to watch.  It reminds me of early morning walks in Boston when the city slowly comes to life.  We spent several hours in Tombstone, mostly to find my husband the perfect cowboy hat and to watch a live performance show at the Wyatt Earp Theatre (very reasonable, and good actors btw - better than the OK Corral show).

We drank ice cold sarsaparilla (very creamy smooth) sold by one of the local vendors who recommended we go to the town of Bisbee which is located about 20 miles south of Tombstone.  Since it was about time for lunch, we decided to go.  Bisbee is a copper mining town that has now turned into an artist/antiques touristy venue.  There are lots of small shops and restaurants to explore, not to mention the array of houses built onto the hillside.  All in all, a very fun "off the beaten path" road trip.

by e. e. cummings

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere) arranging
a window, into which people look (while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here) and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things, while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there) and

without breaking anything.