The Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum - PLOG: Poetry Blog

The Thill of It All

9/27/2020

We visited North Carolina's Outer Banks last week, and twice we drove west of Manteo to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Believe it or not, we actually saw one alligator -- along with a few herons, a bunch of turtles, and even a couple of owls. However, we expected to see bears.

That's right. Bears.

Signs were every where about the bears (about not feeding the bears, not approaching the bears, etc.) Plus, people we spoke to saw bears throughout both mornings -- and on our first morning there one gentleman said he saw 21 bears.

Alas, we saw no bears.

And then a funny thing happened. We came home from our trip to the beach, and on our first morning back, we went for a walk near our home -- and what to our wondering eyes should appear? A large black bear plodding through the woods. I was able to zoom in with my cell phone camera to get a couple of shots of the bear -- just as he lumbered down "a little road -- not made of man." Then he disappeared into the woods.

As the bear forged his own path into the woods, I thought of Emily Dickinson's poem "A little road -- not made of man" (at the right).

Two words in the poem might be unfamiliar to you, but they were probably well known in the 19th century:

THILL: a shaft, especially one of a pair, used to attach a cart or carriage to the animal drawing it.

CURRICLE: a light, open, two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses side by side.

By Emily Dickinson:

A little road – not made of man –
Enabled of the eye –
Accessible to Thill of Bee –
Or Cart of Butterfly –

If town it have – beyond itself –
‘Tis that – I cannot say –
I only know – no Curricle that rumble there –
Bear me

Below: ON both of our visits, we saw this little guy (who is missing a right arm) in the same location.

Below: As we drove through the park on our second visit, two owls caught our eye.

Below, On our first visit in the early afternoon we saw many turtles. On our second visit -- at about 8:00 a.m. -- we saw none.

Below: The quiet and solitude of the Sandy Ridge Wildlife Trail was sanative.

Below left and right: Miscellaneous shots from the Alligator River National Refuge. NOTE: Slide shows don't always work with an android device -- so the pics below are best viewed on a laptop, an iPhone or an iPad.

Life Time

9/27/2020

Several years ago I wrote a musical version of "Tom Sawyer" for a local community theater group. Below is a sweet song that was sung by the characters Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn as they rafted down the river.

The music is below (click the images to enlarge), and here are the lyrics:

Years ago I
thought I’d lead a
half-way normal life.

As I grew up
I began to
see it fill with strife.

Too much schooling,
Too much ruling,
Too much gear and greed.

That’s really no life
Really no life
That’s really no life for me.

As the days pass
I grow older
Maybe wiser too.

There’s a sense of
Obligation--
So much to get through.

Too refining
Too confining
Makes me want to flee

That’s really no life
Really no life
That’s really no life for me.

Too much planning
Too much painting
Too much noise and news.

Too much effort
Too much clothing
Too much socks and shoes.

As the days pass
I grow older
Maybe wiser too.

There’s a sense of
Obligation--
So much to get through.

Too much praying
Not much playing
Makes me want to flee

That’s really no life
Really no life
That’s really no life for me.

PAGE 1

PAGE 2

PAGE 3

Moon Faced

9/26/2020

I used to teach English at the high school level, and one of my favorite poems to introduce to students was Emily Dickinson's "The Moon was but a Chin of Gold."

Before I would share the poem with them, though, I would always project an image of a crescent moon on the board. I would then ask them to suggest images that the moon could represent. Of course, I would always get typical responses like a canoe, a banana, a finger nail, a smile, and the letter "C."

I would then tell them that Emily Dickinson came up with an image of a crescent moon that no student had EVER guessed -- and then the students would try to come up with a few more guesses: A comma. A fish hook. A hammock. And so on.

Not once did anyone ever guess "a chin of gold" -- especially as part of a "perfect face" which ultimately turns upon the world below.

The lesson was very simple, and it really got the students to start thinking of new ways to observe the world.

A few years ago, I wrote a song based on this poem, and the music is below. I hope you like it.

The poem:

By Emily Dickinson:

The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago –
And now she turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below –

Her Forehead is of Amplest Blonde –
Her Cheek – a Beryl hewn –
Her Eye unto the Summer Dew
The likest I have known –

Her Lips of Amber never part –
But what must be the smile
Upon Her Friend she could confer
Were such Her Silver Will –

And what a privilege to be
But the remotest Star –
For Certainty She take Her Way
Beside Your Palace Door –

Her Bonnet is the Firmament –
The Universe – Her Shoe –
The Stars – the Trinkets at Her Belt –
Her Dimities – of Blue –

The lyrics based on the poem:

The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago
And now she turns Her perfect face
Upon the World below –

Her Forehead is amplest Blonde
Her cheek – a Beryl hewn –
Her Eye unto the Summer Dew
The likest I have known--

And what a priv’lege to be
But the remotest Star
For Certainty she takes her way
Beside your palace door

The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
A Night or two ago
And now she turns Her perfect face
Upon the World below –

Her bonnet’s the firmament
The Universe – Her shoe
The stars – the trinkets at her Belt
In her sea of blue

And what a priv’lege to be
But the remotest Star
For Certainty she takes her way
Beside your palace door

Click the images below to enlarge.

PAGE 1

PAGE 2

The MAGAt King

9/26/2020

Is there a bottom to the ugliness and repulsiveness of Trump? Evidently not. Each week he surpasses his vile and despicable actions and words from the week before – and the GOP remains silent, like passive puppets and spineless sycophants. It is all truly appalling.

Recently, real news broke about Trump’s atrocious comments about US troops who died in war, calling them “losers” and “suckers.” The article is HERE.

The disgusting remarks called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson’s short, enigmatic poem “Foul violation of Whom” (below on the left), written in 1853 (enigmatic for 1853, but particularly meaningful in 2020 where "Maggot" easily substitutes for "MAGAt"). Dickinson’s poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “Drab Habitation of Whom" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Foul violation of Whom?
Our Soldiers in the Tomb –
By Worm of Man –
By Clown of Fools –
By some Swamp’s Maggot King!

By Emily Dickinson:

Drab Habitation of Whom?
Tabernacle or Tomb –
Or Dome of Worm –
Or Porch of Gnome –
Or some Elf's Catacomb?

I sincerely hope that on November 3rd, there are enough sane, sensible people who cast ballots for Joe Biden so that we can Make America Decent Again. I am sickened and saddened by the past four years of ugliness, divisiveness, and incompetence of Donald Trump. There is no bottom – but hopefully, soon, there will be an end.

Grand Duke

9/26/2020

I've highlighted abandoned buildings in my plog (poetry blog) before. There is something mournful yet captivating in the quiet and solace of an abandoned place that was, at some point in its past, a new and vibrant place.

During a recent trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks, I came across a vacated motel in Manteo. Though once a stop for traveling tourists and families, it now sits in silence as incurious travelers pass by on their way to other destinations.

By Emily Dickinson:

What Inn is this
Where for the night
Peculiar Traveller comes?
Who is the Landlord?
Where the maids?
Behold, what curious rooms!
No ruddy fires on the hearth –
No brimming Tankards flow –
Necromancer! Landlord!
Who are these below?

In some of the photos below, I held phone up onto windows to get pics of the lobby and two of the rooms.

If you like to see my past posts on abandoned places, click HERE and scroll down.

A Formal Song

9/25/2020

Are you familiar with Emily Dickinson's poem "After great pain, a Formal Felling comes"? The poem is below on the left.

If it were a song, what would it sound like? Well -- maybe something like the music below? That's a song I came up with based on Dickinson's poem. The tempo? I don't have a metronome to give a specific speed -- but something on the slower more solemn side. Perhaps a little formal. : )

Let me know what you think.

Click the images to enlarge.

By Emily Dickinson:

After great pain, a formal feeling comes –
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs –
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round –
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought –
A Wooden Way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone –

This is the Hour of Lead –
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow –
First – Chill – then Stupor – then the letting go –

PAGE 1

PAGE 2

PAGE 3

It Happens Autumn-atically

9/25/2020

We were visiting North Carolina's Outer Banks this past week as Summer slipped into Autumn, and we watched the sunset from Jockey's Ridge, the "tallest living sand dunes" on the East Coast (info HERE).

By Emily Dickinson:

As Summer into Autumn slips
And yet we sooner say
"The Summer" than "the Autumn," lest
We turn the sun away,

And almost count it an Affront
The presence to concede
Of one however lovely, not
The one that we have loved –

So we evade the charge of Years
On one attempting shy
The Circumvention of the Shaft
Of Life's Declivity.

Below: A slide show of miscellaneous pics from the sunset. NOTE: Slide shows don't always work w/Androids -- so best viewed from a laptop, iPad or iPhone.

If Then

9/20/2020

The is the third of three original lullabies.

1. "One More Lullaby" is HERE.

2. "Let's Sing the Moon a Lullaby" is HERE.

3. And the one below is called "If I."

Here are the lyrics:

If I, if I
Could jump to catch and keep the sun for you –
That’s what I’d do.

If I, if I
Could steal away the stars and moonlight too –
That’s what I’d do.

For you mean everything to me,
And everything I do, I do for you.
For you mean all the world to me,
And all the world I hope to show to you.

If I, if I
Could paint the sky an everlasting blue –
That’s what I’d do.

If I, if I
Could catch a cloud to ride upon with you –
That’s what I’d do.

For you mean everything to me,
And everything I do, I do for you.
For you mean all the world to me,
And all the world I hope to show to you.

If I, if I
Could gather all my days to spend with you –
That’s what I’d do.

If I, if I
Could take our yesterdays and make them new –
That’s what I’d do.

For you mean everything to me,
And everything I do, I do for you.
For you mean all the world to me,
And all the world I hope to show to you.

The music is below. Click the images to enlarge.

T-N-Tree?

9/19/2020

Science-schmience. I put my faith in the scholarship of Homer Simpson ("Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true") and Donald Trump ("Trees can explode.") -- and it's true! Trees do explode!

Emmett Lee Dickinson celebrated exploding trees in his now-classic poem "I raked the Woods" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "I robbed the Woods" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

I raked the Woods –
The rustling Woods.
The oft neglected Trees
Bore out their Burs and mosses
Their arsenal of leaves.
I scanned their triggers curious –
I gasped – Away I strode –
When will the deadly Hemlock –
When will the Oak explode?

By Emily Dickinson:

I robbed the Woods –
The trusting Woods.
The unsuspecting Trees
Brought out their Burs and mosses
My fantasy to please.
I scanned their trinkets curious –
I grasped – I bore away –
What will the solemn Hemlock –
What will the Oak tree say?

Not only do trees explode, but the top ten fires in our nation's history have all be caused by exploding trees:

10. A Sweet Acacia Tree exploded in 1853 in Gnadenhutten, OH, and burned over half of the state to the ground.

9. A Bonsai tree caused more than a small fire in 1972 when several Bosai trees exploded and destroyed a miniature Christmas Tree farm in Bread Loaf, VT

8. In 1923, a Shagbark Hickory tree exploded near Boggy Creek in the Sulfur River Wildlife Area near Fouke, Arkansas., and destroyed acres of swampland.

7 A Brazilian Pepper Tree exploded in Okahumpka, FL, in 1898 incinerated over a dozen towns.

6. Mesquite trees exploded in 1936 in Wagon Mound, Texas, and burned the entire town to the ground. After the fire, the town changed its name to Notrees.

5. In 1954, a White Stinkwood tree exploded in Klanton, North Carolina, and burned Klan camps across most of the western part of the space.

4 In 1903, a Jamaican Dogwood exploded and wiped out the town of Shamong, NJ.

3. A Bristlecone Hemlock exploded in 1947 and destroyed thousands of acres of the Squam Lakes Natural area near Lempster, NH.

2. In 1986, a Black Ash exploded in Pinch Gut Holler, WV, and destroyed over 500 trailer homes.

1. An exploding Gopherwood tree in 1879 destroyed the town of Bonetraill, ND, and burned hundreds of thousands of acres of prairie in North and South Dakota.

Clair de Lune

9/19/2020

For all of you parents with small children out there (and/or grandparents), I'm posting three original lullabies for you to sing to your children. This is the second of three. The first one is HERE.

Here are the lyrics for this one -- called "Let's Sing the Moon a Lullaby" -- and the music is posted below.

Let’s sing the moon a lullaby
A song of dreamy delight.
Let’s the sing the moon a lullaby
So he will sleep through the night.

Let’s lift our voices to the sky
To serenade the full moon.
Let’s sing of love in a lullaby
And say good night with a tune.

Most the month the moon does try
To stay up as late as he can.
No matter what the hour is,
He watches over the land.

He doesn’t like to miss a thing
So very late hours he’ll keep
But sing this lullaby each night
And watch him fall fast asleep.

Let’s sing the moon a lullaby
A song of dreamy delight.
Let’s the sing the moon a lullaby
So he will sleep through the night.

Let’s lift our voices to the sky
To serenade the full moon.
Let’s sing of love in a lullaby
And say good night with a tune.

Hmm...this reminds me -- I also wrote an original song based on Emily Dickinson's poem "The moon was but a chin of gold," one of my favorite poems about the moon!

One of these days in the not so distant future I'll write out that song and post it here too!

Here's the music. Click the images to enlarge.

PAGE 1

PAGE 2

PAGE 3