faith's circumference

inspired by a conversation with Linda Marie...

faith's circumference

Emily's dictation

uneven

slant rhyme

disrupts the time-

ing

of the read that

read so smoothly at first then

got all muddled and twisted tongued

i can't read her without 

stumbling through a reader's block

"prancing poetry"

she uses that phrase

but her poetry is like a young colt

with no particular gait

like one i was on once

that threw me off 

just after a tree branch

almost ambushed me

Emily ambushes me as well

her poems have so many meanings at once

and while scholars pin a label

on her writings, 

she never titled her poems...

she obviously hated labels

maybe her time-

ing

was a bit off

her near rhyme bridged too closely

to the male bards' egos

God forbid

she would have believed

and understood her position

where she was supposed to stand

and believe

and submit

and commit

to the hypocrisy 

she so despised

in her eyes

she "pranced"

to a record

no one else heard

"and then i heard them lift a box

and creak across my soul"

and then her poetry

like that tree branch

hit me head on

and i knew i believed

in something

or at least

wished i did.

erin-cilberto

11/5/19

quotes from "no frigate like a book"

and "i felt a funeral in my brain"

both by Emily Dickinson

Reviews

[kentuck14]

Dickinson"s poetry lies as much in her hidden persona as much as her words. Both are closely aligned.
She won't let you come completely into her world; the door is not completely open . . . just part way. She remains at the top of the stairs . . . her voice is all we hear . . . perhaps we get a quick look at flashes of white dresses if the moment appears. I wonder if her poetry would be as remembered and studied so if she had been fully published in her time!? The mystique of her reclusiveness surely adds to the atmospherics of her work . . . truly, this was a large element of her voice. Would Ginsberg be remembered so if he wasn't a central figure of the Beats? Would Lowell be remembered if his life wasn't cursed with bi-polar disease? Would Whitman have faded into obscurity if he wasn't the self-promoter and igotist he was? I'm sure there are other examples to apply. This is not to say Emily was not a good poet. She was . . . but there are many good poets . . . then and now who are long forgotten or ignored because they don't have a unique 'story'. (Hey, I've wanted to write a poem about Em . . . maybe this is the way to go???!!!) Thanks J for this piece and the discussion it incurs.
T

[jacob erin-cilberto]

a lot of valid questions about all of these poets...actually i think Emily in any lifetime...and published in hers or not...would be a significant voice...and the Beats...Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti and others...were a voice for the times...and those times are still remembered.
i asked a question in my thesis about Plath and Sexton...did their notoriety come from the validity of their work or because of their suicides...
interesting to ponder.
thank you for your insightful review, T.
j.

[kentuck14]

You bet my friend!

[FJ Davis]

Faith's circumference is about three times hope's radius.
Early on, Em was one of my favorites--mostly because I foolishly thought I understood her.
Great piece of writing, poet!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i don't know if we can really understand her, maybe just come to some terms with her...but even that is worth it to me...
thank you, FJ..
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Emily, a one off. Born in a time where women were to be seen rather than heard. I love that she doesn't like labels. I so understand that. I very much liked that her poetry hit you like a tree branch on the head. Ouch, that was some impact, but then that's exactly what happened. She made a lasting impression on you. You believed in her when your beliefs in other areas were waning. Wonderful poem Jacob.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your insightful words, Chris,
j.

[JTD]

She was a great post for all time and I like how you have interpreted her here.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thanks JTD...
j.

[Lorry]

And while those crusty old bards pages are lifted with a weary sigh, Emily has like wine, became more cherished and enthused about, with an ever expanding audience.
The crusties will say its because she was a woman in a mans world, like an insult, but that just makes her all the more inspiring.
I too struggle at times with her work, but sometimes it gives me a slap on the head too and connects its intentions with my muddled thoughts.
Yhink of the nonsense a woman in a mans world today has to put up with and then think of what she would have had to gothrough. Amazingly, both equates to men.
I know im letting the team down, but not even both Krane brothers could defend some of the stuff done so that we can feel like we are really in charge.
If there is such a thing as the male menapause, i just hit it i think 😀

[jacob erin-cilberto]

and way ahead of her time...and i have been a feminist since i was very very young...in fact as Cat Stevens would have sung.."oh very young"
i appreciate your words, Lorry...and your stance on this issue.
Emily would have intimidated most of the male poets if they had known she was around...
j.

[Jon Roggie]

I have never cared for labels, unless it was on a package of food. I know I have a hard time putting one on my own writing. When you consider the time of her writing, I am amazed we ever read it at all.
Very interesting write.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

well, we didn't get to read it until after she died...it was found in her attic...nothing titled...and she had only published 11 poems but anonymously...
she was way ahead of her time...'
i agree on the labels...thank you, Jon...
j.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

Would love to have been in that conversation. Every poet has their own style. Even the most famous have been ridiculed by people who don't like their work cause we can't please everyone. My favorite Poe had a lot of critiques for sure.

I don't believe in putting labels on any kind of art or artists.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree with you wholeheartedly....no labels.
thank you, Dale,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

Beautiful and amazing use of words Jacob. I had to read again. The words dances to perfect meaning and I liked the honest and kind statements. Thank you for sharing the outstanding poetry.
Coyote

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Coyote,
j.

[Coyote Poetry]

You are welcome my friend.

[Sami Khalil]

One of my favorites as yourself too. What a wonderful lesson in her thoughts and legacy! I can feel how much influence and inspiration she has on our poet. How unusual she was but so familiar now. A mystery about her that lives in our minds. Marvelous sir Jacob.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Sami....ah yes...she was the best...love her work and the mystery of her so much.
j.

[Sami Khalil]

Same here. You are welcome sir...

[h d e rushin]

its hard to undo Dickinson from the folds and rhythms of our early exposure to her; perhaps in grade school or in our freshman college literature course, where she was mandatory yet not rudimentary. And it was our very first exposure to sexism as she was presented as "girlish" awash in her feelings while Whitman was presented as emotional, awash in his thoughts. But when you read the depth of her love poems, you knew. She was the real deal. And yet, it would be another 80 years until Plath, Lowell and Sexton, or the so called "confessional" poets, until the woman's voice was considered, at least, plausible.

"She pranced to a record
no one else heard"

Because in the 19th century, no one else was listening....Your amazing....dana

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind thoughts on the poem and your words on Emily...
i think the male poets would have been afraid of her if they had known her...but since she only published 11 poems anonymously while alive....they never knew her until years after her death.
thank you, dana
j.