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

[R.E. Ray]

She was an enigma, but somewhat understood if we study the time she lived. I think you’ve captured her well here, J., or as well as anyone could.

I know it’s probably risky to say in the Cafe, but I’ve never given much consideration to the scholars. Most simply regurgitate what their predecessors or contemporaries have written, unlike what you’ve written here. An original take that Emily might say, “we’ll done, sir.”

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i am a teacher....and when i teach literature, especially poetry, i am constantly contradicting the so-called scholars and/or critics.
join the club...
thank you for your words, R.E.'
j.

[Paul Bell]

Because I could not stop for death.
He kindly stopped for me.
Is that not the perfect epitaph as your time finally comes to an end.
Some are just ahead of their times, she was one of them.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, she was...and I teach that poem in my lit class....thank you, Paul.
j.

[Paul Bell]

That's the attention grabber poem.

[......]

Hi j.
While I'm no expert on writers, I know who Dickinson is.
And although I'm no expert on writing, I enjoy the style you "employ."
It seems that you express yourself easily, with wit and grace, with minimal tweaking, and I appreciate that. You have turned a stream of consciousness about an appreciated author into an interestingly cadenced commentary.
Thank you for sharing.
-- BECK

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, BECK,
j.

[CD Campbell]

Not a huge fan, but I like her. You either jive with a poet or you dont. But I will say that after reading your verse, maybe the problem is me. You've brought out so many aspects of her in this poem, that maybe I should get off my a*s and give her another chance. Just promise me you wont write a favorable poem about Hitler.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

no, i don't think there is anything to say favorable about Hitler, except that he is dead.
thank you for your words, CD...let me know if her second chance pans out.
j.

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Ha! She's back. :-) I think I like this one most of all. I think you really captured her free spirit with this one.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Linda...
i can only hope to pay my respects to her...
j.