The Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum - PLOG: Poetry Blog

The White Stuff

11/28/2021

Hmm...it seems like White Supremacists have had a pretty fruitful year this year although there have been a few setbacks. Recent triumphs have included the following:

* Grand Wizard Trump has yet to have been arrested for his planned insurrection to overthrow our government, and it is HIGHLY unlikely he will ever be held accountable for any of his crimes.

* The GOP is honing their skills at election fraud, and they are working diligently to pass voter suppression laws and gerrymandered districts so that they can remain in power.

* The GOP has also been busy white-washing our history by scaring white folks with their new boogey man, "Critical Race Theory." (SPOILER ALERT: The year 1619 will soon be wiped from all history books.)

* A jury in Wisconsin found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges -- so our society has reached the pinnacle of white privilege: we can now walk the streets of protest with AR15s and kill any and all we find threatening.

In tribute to the Rittenhouse jury's approval of murder in the streets, I have posted Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "In Self-Defense" below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Over the fence," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

In Self-Defense –
Acquittals – go –
In Self-Defense –
He can kill – if he tried, he knew –
Killings make sense!

And – if he stained his Armor –
Cops would certainly hold?
Oh, no – They know that he’s just a Boy –
He’d – kill – for he could!

By Emily Dickinson:

Over the fence –
Strawberries – grow –
Over the fence –
I could climb – if I tried, I know –
Berries are nice!

But – if I stained my Apron –
God would certainly scold!
Oh, dear – I guess if He were a Boy –
He'd – climb – if He could!

Oh, The Places I've Been

9/8/2021

I've been completing a lot of day trips recently Pics from some of them are below.

The Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail

Info HERE

The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum

Info HERE

I snapped a picture of some tree bark (a Tulip Poplar?), shown at the right, and it reminded me of "From the Lake, No. 3" by Georgia O'Keeffe, at the far right.

The Fralin Art Museum

Info HERE

We went specifically to see their exhibit entitled Skyscraper Gothic, info HERE.

The home of poet Anne Spencer

The Maier Museum

Info HERE

At the right: "Mrs. Scott's House" by Edward Hopper

The Washington National Cathedral

Info HERE

Alas, the building was not open to the public on the day I was there, so I was unable to see the beautiful stained glass windows.

The Van Gogh Immersive Experience

Info HERE

Bearfence Mountain Trail in Shenandoah National Park

Info HERE

Rapidan Camp

Info HERE

President Herbert Hoover's idyllic presidential get-away in Shenandoah National Park.

As you can see, I've been busy -- and a few more trips are coming up: a hike up Humpback Mountain and a visit to the Channels Natural Area Preserve. Look for pics soon!

Bamboozled

8/8/2021

I understand that the Arizona GOP's "Fraudit" of 2020 votes in the presidential election is complete (or no complete?), and -- a drum roll please -- THEY FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF VOTER FRUAD. In addition they found no evidence of bamboo in paper ballots that were supposedly smuggled in by the Chinese government. However, the people of Arizona sure were bamboozled by the GOP and by Trump and the Big Lie begun by Rudy Giuliani.

I'm sure the Frauditors will soon start screaming for another recount. Surely someone in the GOP will demand a recount of the audit of the recount that recounted the audit of the third recount of the recount that recounted the initial audit of the first recount. Am I right?

in honor of Trump's Big Lie and the insanity of the GOP's desire to undermine our democracy, I have posted Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem "When they count the votes" below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "When they count the seeds," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

When they count the votes
For the seventh time,
They loom and lie and lie –

When they con the people
Stoop so low,
To be perceived as high –

When they believe the grifter
Yet they do forsooth –
Put their faith in falsehoods
And avoid the Truth,
They pursue the Big LIe, unsuccessfully

By Emily Dickinson:

When I count the seeds
That are sown beneath,
To bloom so bye and bye –

When I con the people
Lain so low,
To be received as high –

When I believe the garden
Mortal shall not see –
Pick by faith its blossom
And avoid its Bee,
I can spare this summer, unreluctantly.

After the Fair

7/19/2021

In a letter from Emily Dickinson to Mrs. J. G. Holland in May 1866, Emily wrote, "Friday I tasted life. It was a vast morsel. A circus passed the house - still I feel the red in my mind though the drums are out." The complete letter is HERE.

How cool is that? To have a circus parade by just outside your bedroom window!

Dickinson's niece Martha Dickinson Bianchi wrote about the incident in her 1936 book "The Life and Letters of Emily Dickinson." See below -- and also click HERE.

I did not see a circus parade this summer; however I did stumble upon two vacant carnivals -- and I too was thrilled by their wild vagrancy and pathos (though there were no signs of "utter sophistication").

Above left, center and right: An abandoned carnival in Kilmarnock, Virginia. Below left, center and right: An abandoned carnival in Wachapreague on Virginia's Eastern Shore (part of the DelMarVa Peninsula).

Below: A slide show with additional pictures from both abandoned carnivals. NOTE: Slide shows don't always work on Android devices, so the pics are best viewed on a laptop, iPad or iPhone.

Statue of Limitations

7/13/2021

August 2017 was a surreal time for me. I was attending the annual meeting of the Emily Dickinson International Society in Amherst, MA, and while I was there discussing the poetry of Emily Dickinson, neo-Nazis were marching in my hometown of Charlottesville, VA, in support of white supremacy, the Ku Klux Klan's Grand Wizard Donald Trump, and Confederate monuments. They were "very fine people," croaked Trump. It was all so disgusting, but what started it all was a Charlottesville City Council vote to remove statues in town of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson (and note -- neither of those men had ever visited the city nor had anything to do with Charlottesville's history).

This past weekend, on July 10, 2021, the two statues were finally removed. Info is HERE.

Of course, Klan members in the GOP will say, "The libtards are cancelling history!" In truth, though, the history will still stand. What will NOT stand will be the monuments to seditious traitors who supported white supremacy and the enslavement of other human beings (and don't give me that "the Civil War was about "states' rights" crap; that's the fake narrative racists use to disguise the truth).

In honor of the removal to these monument to racism, I have posted Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem "The Crane took up the Southern Things" below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The Wind took up the Northern Things," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Crane took up the Southern Things
And piled them onto trucks –
Then drove the Figures to a Shed
Thus closing up a flux

The two Divisions of our Land
Did cause our lot to sour
White separatists to corners slunk
Behind an awful power –

Their Cause – unto our History went
And yet it’s ventured on –
Their subjects scattered onto plinths
Their shrines staged on the lawn

And though their Monuments did rise
Our Voice has now been heard --
How far we’ve come, a Tempest past
Their Transport has Occurred –

By Emily Dickinson:

The Wind took up the Northern Things
And piled them in the south –
Then gave the East unto the West
And opening his mouth

The four Divisions of the Earth
Did make as to devour
While everything to corners slunk
Behind the awful power –

The Wind - unto his Chambers went
And nature ventured out -
Her subjects scattered into place
Her systems ranged about

Again the smoke from Dwellings rose
The Day abroad was heard -
How intimate, a Tempest past
The Transport of the Bird –

Below left: Robert E. Lee rides off to a storage shed. Below right: Lee's empty plinth.

Below left, center and right: Stonewall Jackson gets strapped up and lifted off his plinth.

Below: Stonewall Jackson rides off this the same storage shed as Lee.

Below: In a surprise move on the same weekend, the city also removed a statue of Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea. One of the issues was the perception of Sacagawea cowering behind the men.

Below: Scenes from the expedition are depicted around the base of the statue. York, the man William Clark's father enslaved, was willed to William Clark in 1799. Clark did not even give him freedom after the trek.

All The Best?

7/7/2021

I have another website where I've posted my Top 100 Classical Music Favorites -- HERE -- and once per week on that site, I listen to and comment on a piece of music I've never heard before -- HERE.

Recently I listened to a three-movement piece called "Different Trains" by American composer Steve Reich, and in that post, I mention an article I found at ClassicFM.com on "The Best American Classical Music" (HERE).

The ClassicFM list includes twenty works, and one of them is 4'33" by composer John Cage.

Have you ever heard that piece?

I suspect not -- since 4'33" is four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. That's right. The score for 4'33" instructs performers not to play their instrument(s) for the entire duration of the piece throughout its three movements.

ClassicFM included that work on a list of "BEST" American classical music and said this:

"If you thought 4'33" was just three movements of silence, think again. John Cage, one of America's most influential 20th century composers, considered it his most important work. He was playing with the idea of what music 'is' - and as far as 4'33" is concerned, that includes any type of sound, whether it's played by an instrument or not."

The inclusion of John Cage’s opus of dead air (albeit, excluding the natural and hushed sounds of concert-goers breathing and coughing and perhaps the hum of an HVAC system) on a list of BEST American music inspired me to create a similar work of visual art which I have entitled “5 x 7." I have posted photographs of it below. I honestly think this magnum opus will take the art world by storm as it plays with the idea of what art “is.”

Below from left to right: My new masterpiece "5x7." As you can see, this is an incredible piece, and its mood changes dramatically, depending upon which wall it is hung.

If you have any interest in making an offer to own this one-of-a-kind piece, please let me know a.s.a.p. -- as I am sure it will go quickly!

By the way -- the ClassicFM list inspired me to create my own list of the Top 20 Best Pieces of American Classical Music -- and here it is (NOTE: The pieces are not ranked -- they're just my twenty favorites):

1. The score from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
2. Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
3. Stars & Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa
4. Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber
5. Variations on America by Charles Ives
6. Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin
7. Suite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennett
8. Piano Concerto in F by George Gershwin
9. Scene d'Amour from "Vertigo" by Bernard Herrmann
10. Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin
11. Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar
12 Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster
13. Theme from The Magnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein
14. Rodeo by Aaron Copland
15. The soundtrack to Star Wars' "A New Hope" by John Wiliams
16. Three Dances from "On the Town" by Leonard Bernstein
17. Washington Post March by John Philip Sousa
18. The Desert Music by Steve Reich
19. Overture to Candide by Leonard Bernstein
20. Breakfast Machine by Danny Elfman*

* If ClassicFM can have 4' 33" on their list, then I can have Breakfast Machine on mine!

MOB Rule

6/28/2021

One of the worst odors I ever smelled was at a gas station in Ohio due to the pig farm next door. This past weekend, and even worse stink wafted from Ohio, and that was due to the GOP Klan Rally in support of Grand Wizard Trump.

The GOP has literally lost its mind.

They have been taken in by a criminal grifter, and it is just unbelievable how RepubliQans have rallied behind this con man -- especially in the face of his coup attempt to overthrow our government through his planned insurrection on January 6, 2021. Now it is simply incredible how the GOP is attempting to re-write history by characterizing the attack on our Capitol as just "another day" with tourists.

This past week Nancy Pelosi announced that a select committee will investigate the attack since the Party of Putin blocked a bipartisan commission to get at the truth. Of course, the GQP blocked the investigation -- because some (many?) of them were in on the planning -- and because TRUTH is like Kryptonite to right wing nut jobs. They cannot support nor tolerate the truth.

In tribute to the GOP's cowardice, I have posted Emmett Lee Dickinson's "The mob within D.C." below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "The mob within the heart," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The mob within D.C.
Police could not suppress
The riot sanctioned at the top
And authorized as just

Incredible the scene
In savagery and sound
But now they veil the hurricane
On their congressional ground.

By Emily Dickinson:

The mob within the heart
Police cannot suppress
The riot given at the first
Is authorized as peace

Uncertified of scene
Or signified of sound
But growing like a hurricane
In a congenial ground.

Summer's Cool

6/26/2021

I suppose by now most if no all schools are out for summer vacation?

Emmett Lee Dickinson, Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request -- wrote many poems about days in -- and out of -- school. He wrote poetry about snow days, HERE. He wrote poems about Spring Break, HERE. In addition, he wrote about the end of a school year and summer vacation in "When Bells stop ringing -- School -- will end," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "When Bells stop ringing -- Church -- begins," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

When Bells stop ringing – School – will end
The Positive – of Bells –
When Class – stops – that's Vacation –
The Ultimate – of Worlds

By Emily Dickinson:

When Bells stop ringing – Church – begins
The Positive – of Bells –
When Cogs – stop – that's Circumference –
The Ultimate – of Wheels

Spring Forward

6/19/2021

As spring slips into summer, we had some absolutely beautiful weather, so we drove to nearby Skyline Drive and hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail. We had some beautiful views -- both at various overlooks and at an idyllic spot by the head waters of Ivy Creak -- and we saw some of the season's "furthers flowers" amid the many signs of summer.

By Emily Dickinson:

My Season's furthest Flower –
I tenderer commend
Because I found Her Kinsmanless,
A Grace without a Friend.

Below: Some of spring's "furthest flowers":

Below: Signs of the coming summer:

Below: A rest near Ivy Creek:

Bring Out Your Dad!

6/19/2021

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! In honor of all the dads, I have posted two different sets of poems below

First, below on the left, is Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem "The pattern of the son." I've heard that the marketing firm that came up with those Progressive Insurance ads with the theme "we can't stop you from becoming your parents" was inspired to create the ads because of Dickinson's poem. Dickinson also inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The pattern of the sun," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The pattern of the son
Can fit but him alone
For he'll become his Dad
So too his son –

By Emily Dickinson:

The pattern of the sun
Can fit but him alone
For sheen must have a Disk
To be a son –

Next, do you know who invented Dad jokes? We'll give you one guess!

Yes -- it was Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) -- and so the second set of poems below includes Emmett Lee Dickinson's tribute to Dad jokes, "From whom so dear." His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "Of whom so dear," below on the right.

Finally, for your enjoyment: 150 Best Dad Jokes Ever! Click HERE.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

From whom so dear
The jokes we hear
Elicit quite a Groan
We celebrate – our dear ol’ Dad
We roll our eyes and moan –

By Emily Dickinson:

Of whom so dear
The name to hear
Illumines with a Glow
As intimate – as fugitive
As Sunset on the snow –

Now -- like they say on that Monty Python skit -- BRING OUT YOUR DAD! ; )