i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me by E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I absolutely fell in love with this poem after watching a movie several years ago where Cameron Diaz read this at her sister's wedding. It was such a moving part of the movie that it almost brought me to tears. Actually, it did bring me to tears.

Poetry, for some people, is difficult to read and takes the reader nowhere. As a teacher, I see this all the time with students who don't like poetry simply because they "don't get it." What's not to get? Poetry has its own special message for each person who reads it. That, to me, is the beauty of poetry. If the reader cannot grasp even a small fraction of the message the poet is trying to convey then the beauty and true message is missed. I once had a teacher who said there is no right way to interpret a poem, it can mean so many different things, it's just how the reader interprets it. However, the problem with that is is that so many people need a black and white answer and leave no room for individual interpretation or any gray. I have kids who need to me to tell them exactly what the poem is saying in order for them to understand, giving them the metaphors and the symbolism and all the small pieces that makes the poem so appealing. To me, that takes away the beauty of reading poetry and connecting with poetry. If I have to tell you what it means then you have completely missed the boat. Let the poem speak to you. Feel the poem. 

I love this poem for the simple message the poet is conveying. No, I am not going to sit here and tell you what I think the poem says or means, because like I said, it must be the duty of the reader to interpret the poem and apply it however deems fitting. Read it. What does it say to you?