American Poetry Month

American Poetry Month*

Celebrate the poetry of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) throughout the month of April during American Poetry Month* with the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard)!

If you follow us on Twitter (@The_Dickinson), use the hashtag #APMO.

*Not affilliated with National Poetry Month, also in April.

Emily Dickinson

The influence of Emmett Lee Dickinson can be found throughout the works of Emily Dickinson, his third cousin, twice removed (at her request). Emmett Lee's poem at the right inspired third cousin Emily to write her poem, “After great pain a formal feeling comes.”

After Formal Feedings, a great pain comes –
The Ribs stab uncongenially, like Skewers –
The taut Gut questions was it Thee, that bore
Such innutritious store?

The Tract –gastronomically disturbed, burns on –
With Discomfort – or Indigestion – or Nausea –
An Intolerable ache –
Inevitably grown –
An acidic turbulence, like a churn –

This is the Hour of Lead –
Survived, if outlived,
By medicinal maintenance collected from the cabinet –
First – Tums – then Seltzer – then the letting go –

E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings' poem, "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" is directly linked to a poem by Emmett Lee Dickinson entitled, "i carry your less-than-three with me(i carry it in."

NOTE: For you non-technical types, in Dickinson's poem, the term "less-than-three", or <3, is texting lingo for "heart."

i carry your less-than-three with me(i carry it in
my e-mail)i am never without it(anywhere
i go with wi-fi,my dear;and whatever I send
by only me is in your inbox, my darling)
so fear

no virus(for you are my virus, my sweet)i want
no cure(for software you are my network, my true)
and it’s you are whatever an emoticon now means
and whatever shareware will always share is you

here is the real-time raw-data nobody knows
(here is the chat of the chat of the text of the text
and the root of the root of a file system called C:\ which includes
greater administrative privileges a user can hope)
and this is the template that’s keeping us from unfriending

i carry your less-than-three(i carry it in my e-mail)

Robert Frost

Emmett Lee Dickinson’s poem on the right, “This old Car suffered on,” inspired Robert Frost to pen his classic, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

This old Car suffered on –
I heard its axles go
As if they could not hoist themselves
They hated motion so –

I phoned for Service to come –
I had one choice: To wait –
And wait – and wait – I called again –
With miles to go before I hibernate –
With miles to go before I hibernate –

Wink Whitman (and Walt Whitman)

Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem at the right inspired his friend Wink Whitman to compose his seminal work, "Mows the Grass." That work, in turn, inspired Wink's brother Walt to pen, "Leaves of Grass."

If all the grass I am to cut
Would only grow today
I’d quickly rev the mower up
And mow the grass away.

If all the jobs and “honey-dos”
Would miraculously get done,
I’d pop a top, insert a lime,
And hammock in the sun.

April is also National Twitter Poetry Writing Month

That's right! Not only is April American Poetry Month and National Poetry Month, it's also National Twitter Poetry Writing Month!

Known as "poetwee," Twitter poetry is a complete poem in just 140 characters (or fewer characters if you use the official hashtag, #NaTwiPoWriMo).

National Twitter Poetry Writing Month is sponsored by the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard) through a generous grant from the Poetry Hall of Fame.

Great American Poems ~ REPOEMED

More of the influential poems of Emmett Lee Dickinson can be found in volumes 1 and 2 of Great American Poems ~ REPOEMED.

Both volumes are available at AuthorHouse.com, barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com, or through your preferred bookseller.