Thou Answerest Them Only With Spring

O sweet spontaneous
earth how often have
the
doting
fingers of
purient philosophers pinched
and
poked
thee
,has the naughty thumb
of science prodded
thy
beauty .how
often have religions taken
thee upon their scraggy knees
squeezing and
buffeting thee that thou mightest conceive
gods
(but
true
to the incomparable
couch of death thy
rhythmic
lover
thou answerest
them only with
spring)
--E.E. Cummings

redbud tree in Ruby Canyon (top)
monkey flowers near Phantom Creek (middle)
indian paintbrush and friends (below)