Two Poems in the Style of Emily Dickinson

Sometimes, words come into my head in the voice of a beloved poet. Since I spent much of this past semester working on a lecture recital for my doctoral program about six song settings of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Heart! We will forget him!”, it is hardly surprising that elements of her style are floating around in my brain. The following poems were written out of love and gratitude for the brilliance and depth she brought into the world. How lucky we are to have her words.

 

I would have ended long ago
Had I not heard your voice —
Your echoes called a song I knew —
There seemed no other choice

But follow, follow, follow
Toward Eternity
Till gradually, from distant shores —
I myself could see.

 

I tasted Nothingness today —
Its flavor bitter, pale
And sweet and full and empty
Like earthworms after rain.

I tasted but a sip, then turned
To swallow anxiously
A long, dull draught of Something —
Lest I should not return.