a poem

when serpents bargain for the right to squirm
and the sun strikes for a living wage-
when thorns regard their roses with alarm
and rainbows are insured against old age
when every thrush may sing no new moon in
if all screech owls have not okayed his voice -
and any wave signs on the dotted line
or else an ocean is compelled to close
when the oak begs permission of the birch to make an acorn-
valleys accuse their mountains of having altitude -
and march denounces april as a saboteur
then we'll believe in that incredible unanimal mankind
(and not until)

e e cummings

Should I get permission before posting this poem? I think not.