Ode to Em
Michael Kroth • December 10, 2019
On Her Birth Day
Ode To Em
A lady poet renowned (well later)
Was born (had been borne prior for months, per her Mom)
I know not if she found wiccan’s fun
Not this wordsmith, Dickinson.
There n’er was poet ever better
She had a way with every letter.
(Except “X”, she wasn’t as facile with “X”)
It’s not known whether she had
I know not if she wore clothes homespun
Doubtful…Amherst Dickinson.
“Faith is a fine invention”
“Wild nights” a fierce intention
“I’m nobody” the morning after
“Success is counted sweetest” though
“by those who n’er succeed”
(Well, if she is to be believed)
Did she ever “stop a heart from breaking”?
Doubt it, still, she “did not live in vain”.
She gave us words of poetry
This poet 'thout peer, this Em’ly, Dreamer Dickinson.
~Michael Kroth,
penned in whimsy,
yet with high respect for the "Poet of Paradox",
born this day in 1830.
Earth Day is this week. As we consider the state of our world - and the ecology of both our material and spiritual environment - it makes sense to ask what our role is, has been, and is supposed to be in relationship to "our common home" (Pope Francis).
Here are some initial thoughts about elegance, nature, and depth; a poem about happiness; and even a haiku.
It takes just a second to break something. Restoring what was broken takes time.
Outcomes are not certain, though some are much more highly predictable than others.
Life is messy. We know that. But some people move through that mess with a surprising kind of grace.
“The poor in spirit are by no means poor-spirited. They are persons who see so much to be, so much to do, such limitless reaches to life and goodness that they are profoundly conscious of their insufficiency and incompleteness.” ~Rufus Jones, The Inner Life , p. 19
