Emily Dickinson’s “Ample make this Bed”

Today’s piece for National Poetry Month is another Emily Dickinson: her gothic aubade “Ample make this Bed.”   Word-music is subjective, but I find this one of the most poignant and lovely of her poems. As with many Dickinson poems the meaning tantalizes, at once clear on the surface and tangled beneath. The trope it’s using, … Continue reading Emily Dickinson’s “Ample make this Bed”

Modes of Emily Dickinson: I Am Afraid to Own a Body

Let us return to the genius of Emily Dickinson, as we have regularly here at this Project. As I look to her work over the years, I find that Dickinson has several modes. In one mode, her approach is charming, a just-between-slightly-weird-friends sharing of concrete observations of people and the physical world. Even when that … Continue reading Modes of Emily Dickinson: I Am Afraid to Own a Body

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly – Emily Dickinson’s summer consideration

I shared with my wife, who has many concerns bearing down on her this summer, recent video clips of Freya, a celebrity lady walrus who’s lately been hanging out in Oslo Norway’s harbor. Freya is a young 1300-pound mermaid who spends around 20 hours a day sleeping while carelessly lounging on marina boats, sinking a … Continue reading From Cocoon forth a Butterfly – Emily Dickinson’s summer consideration

A sampling of some of the Emily Dickinson performances the Parlando Project has done over the years

Since I’ve spent hours this week soaking up all the Emily Dickinson spirit I can absorb, it’s time to see if I can let some of that experience overflow here today. Maybe someday I’ll count which poets’ words I’ve used the most in the Parlando Project, but since this is an ongoing thing we’d only … Continue reading A sampling of some of the Emily Dickinson performances the Parlando Project has done over the years

See Emily (Dickinson) Play — I recast her poem “May-Flower” for National Poetry Month

Yesterday I said poetry isn’t just beauty and wonder. Well, sometimes it is. Like this recasting of an Emily Dickinson poem into outright 1960’s wonderment. I carried around a copy of the original text of “May-Flower”  today for Poem in Your Pocket Day, but alas I wasn’t assertive about it. Should I have been? The … Continue reading See Emily (Dickinson) Play — I recast her poem “May-Flower” for National Poetry Month

Musicians Wrestle Everywhere — Emily Dickinson hears songs as they are created

I’ve just spent much of a day with Emily Dickinson. I’ll tell you it was enjoyable, not the least because there is a factor in many of her poems: they grow when you spend time with them. It started late last night. I noted that I had been looking at early examples of “jazz poetry,” … Continue reading Musicians Wrestle Everywhere — Emily Dickinson hears songs as they are created