My wheel is in the dark!

You might sometimes read a poem, and think, ‘if I knew more about the author, or what she was trying to say, I would enjoy the poem more.’ And perhaps you would. But one of the enjoyments I find in poetry is letting the words, and the style, flow over my mind, and see what happens. I enjoy the feeling that cannot be put into words. That is poetry.

#10
My wheel is in the dark!
I cannot see a spoke
Yet know its dripping feet
Go round and round.

My foot is on the Tide!
An unfrequented road -
Yet have all roads
A clearing at the end -

Some have resigned the Loom -
Some in the busy tomb
Find quaint employ -

Some with new - stately feet -
Pass royal through the gate -
Flinging the problem back
At you and I!
- Emily Dickinson, 1858

What do you feel? Triumph, confusion? Is it about death, or is it about life?

The Gentian weaves her fringes

Another poem saying good-bye to summer. I enjoy her voice in this poem - a little playful, a little sad. But is it only summer that she is saying good-bye to? Is she addressing the larger letting go? That is the beauty of poetry - it brings out different feelings, thoughts and ideas for different readers. What does this one say to you?

#18
The Gentian weaves her fringes -
The Maple's loom is red -
My departing blossoms
Obviate parade.

A brief, but patient illness -
An hour to prepare,
And one below this morning
Is where the angels are -
It was a short procession,
The Bobolink was there -
An aged Bee addressed us -
And then we knelt in prayer -
We trust that she was willing -
We ask that we may be.
Summer - Sister - Seraph!
Let us go with thee!

In the name of the Bee -
And of the Butterfly -
And of the Breeze - Amen!
- Emily Dickinson c.1858