lower case

i love to write in lower case
but if you ask me why,
the reason i would give you is
it comes down to the “i.”

my first initial, written small,
is capped off with a dot.
the way it hovers makes me smile –
i like it quite a lot.

most people stick with capitals;
from grammar rules, no slummings -
except for those outside the norm,
like poet e.e. cummings.

i’ve always loved his chutzpah
for it took a lot of nerve
to get his poems, unique and cool,
the notice they deserve.

with email now, the rules are bent
so when i correspond,
i always type in lower case
with fonts of which i’m fond.

yet many times i will concede
and give in to convention.
i’d hate to be perceived as one
just dripping with pretension.

but really, who i am’s ilene,
expressed in lower case.
that dotted “i” identifies
as clearly as my face.