Poetry Analysis: "l(a"

When I first read “l(a,” by E. E. Cummings, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. After looking at it a little closer, I realized that outside of the parenthesis was “loneliness” and inside the parenthesis was “a leaf falls.” Obviously, the leaf falling is a symbol of loneliness, and I am curious if Cummings was writing this poem comparing him to the leaf. I do not fully understand his technique of breaking the words up in that way he did, but I believe he possibly wanted the readers to really concentrate on what the poem said, instead of simply saying: “a leaf falls, loneliness.”