Day 11

 

Here’s Day 11 of your Emily Dickinson practice 🌿 — all fresh poems.

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Poem 1 — Philosophical / Abstract

“I never lost as much but twice –” (Fr39, J49)

I never lost as much but twice –
And that was in the sod.
Twice have I stood a beggar
Before the door of God!

Angels – twice descending
Reimbursed my store –
Burglar! Banker – Father!
I am poor once more!

Note: A cry of grief and frustration. Loss, brief comfort, then loss again. Dickinson hurls her epithets at God — “Burglar! Banker – Father!” — holding both accusation and dependence at once.

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Poem 2 — Nature Lyric

“A Drop Fell on the Apple Tree –” (Fr794, J794)

A Drop Fell on the Apple Tree –
Another – on the Roof –
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves –
And made the Gables laugh –

A few went out to help the Brook
That went to help the Sea –
Myself Conjectured, were they Pearls –
What Necklaces could be –

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads –
The Birds jocoser sung –
The Sunshine threw his Hat away –
The Bushes – spangles flung –

The Breezes brought dejected Lutes –
And bathed them in the Glee –
The East put out a single Flag,
And signed the Fête away –

Note: A summer shower rendered festive: droplets as pearls, sunlight tossing its hat, bushes flinging spangles. Nature becomes a party, signed off with the East’s flag. Playful and celebratory.

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Poem 3 — Compressed Spark

“How many Flowers fail in Wood –” (Fr534, J401)

How many Flowers fail in Wood –
Or perish from the Hill –
Without the privilege to know
That they are Beautiful –

Note: A miniature of unnoticed beauty. Dickinson suggests that recognition is not necessary for worth — but her little quatrain itself rescues those forgotten flowers by noticing them.

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✨ Practice suggestion:
Let today’s poems invite naming. Choose something small and overlooked around you (a pebble, a leaf, a noise), and name it as if it were in one of Dickinson’s verses.