Ordinary Wind Is Winding

Ordinary Wind Is Winding - meaning Summary

Wind as Restless Presence

The poem presents wind as an active, shifting presence that both caresses and assaults. Cummings treats wind as animate—blushing, winding, theatrical—so its motion suggests cycles of arrival and departure across time and place. Contrasts between gentle images (dove, grace) and urgent sounds (thunder, clapping, strike) create a sense of volatile energy and continuity. The short, compressed lines convey immediate movement and recurring tension.