when god lets my body be From each brave eye shall sprout a tree
fruit that dangles therefrom the purpled world will dance upon
Between my lips which did sing a rose shall beget the spring
that maidens whom passion wastes will lay between their little breasts
My strong fingers beneath the snow Into strenuous birds shall go
my love walking in the grass their wings will touch with her face
and all the while shall my heart be With the bulge and nuzzle of the sea Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-1962), Tulips & Chimneys, Thomas Seltzer, New York Cover Image: Henri Rousseau, La Charmeuse de serpents,1907, oil on canvas, cm 167 x 189,5 Paris, Musée d’Orsay © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski The artwork is on show from March 5 to July 5 at Palazzo Ducale (Venice) in the exhibition Henri Rousseau. Il candore arcaico (www.mostrarousseau.it)