Volcanoes are formed when liquid, molten rock beneath the earth’s crust — called “magma” — breaks through a crack exposed by the movement of the huge tectonic plates that form the crust. The hot magma flows up through a “conduit,” or pipe. The resulting volcanic eruption can be explosive or effusive. An explosive eruption is one that shoots rocks and ash particles up to 20 miles high and huge boulders as far as a half mile away. Mount St. Helens in Washington state is an example of a volcano that erupts like this. An effusive eruption is one in which lava — magma that has reached the earth’s surface — flows out of the volcano’s surface vents and moves slowly down the volcanic mountain and the surrounding land, burning and melting everything in its path. Mauna Loa in Hawaii is an example of a volcano that erupts in this way. As the lava and ash that spew from the vents settle to the ground and cool, they form layers of land that grow the sides of the volcanic mountain.

Edwin Estlin Cummings, also known as E.E. Cummings, was a prolific American poet of the twentieth century. He published nearly 3,000 poems in his lifetime. He is known for his trademark use of lowercase letters that are normally capitalized, especially the pronoun I. He often wrote I as i to de-emphasize the importance of himself, the author of the poem, and thus emphasize the subject matter instead.