When I
was a child, I felt disappointment that I shared a birthday with Emily
Dickinson. I didn’t understand her poetry and felt she was old-fashioned. Ha!
Hey, remember, I was a kid.
Last
fall, I joined the Modern & Contemporary American Poetry course through Coursera,
which happened to have Emily Dickinson on the syllabus.
I wound
up letting the class fall by the wayside while I tended to other more pressing
commitments. But not before I learned a bit more about Ms. Dickinson.
I decided
I kind of like the gal. Now I see we have some things in common.
And so
this was born, a poem I wrote as a joke. Even so, I kind of like it:
 |
| Interpreting Emily's Poetry |
Living In Your Shadow
Sometimes I feel like Emily Dickinson’s shadow,
forbidden to flatter myself or flounce my dress, ink-
stained cheeks force isolation, denied
a paperless life, required to sit with legs
held tight, be a lady, hands designed
to shovel gritty pain from each
word, uncover gassy explosions,
reveal bulbous traits, onions I pull up from mossy
carpeting in my lived-in room.
Sometimes I feel like Emily Dickinson’s shadow,
locked inside dusty dictionary, tossing words back
and forth, Walt Whitman sitting on opposite page, pencil
behind his perceptive brow, relax, let the words come
as they may, be what they want, no ulterior
meanings, deliver them to the world.
Sometimes I feel like Emily Dickinson’s shadow,
my feet, a lamp base, my eyes the switch, hands
dangling down, tendrils of a spying plant
that reads each word, wavering in the windstorm
caused by this game of catch
with vocabulary.
Sometimes I feel like Emily Dickinson’s shadow.
And sometimes my poetry just sucks.
+++++
So did you like that last line? I guess I was a frustrated writer that day.
Another memory that stands from my childhood is the frequent occurrence
of a particular career recommendation that often came up in career quizzes and astrologically-predicted
career paths.
Which career? The publishing field. Yes, it was another thing I balked
at. I never saw myself enjoying what I do now; running Mouse Tales Press
literary magazine.
If you are a friend of mine on
Facebook, you will probably know that, a
day or so ago, I promised an announcement.
Please visit the Mouse Tales Press blog to read more. (Er, uh, well, visit it soon. I still need to write that up.)
Have a nice evening!
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