I finally opened the box. We recently moved and the box has been looking at me for long enough.
Strong Draughts of Their Refreshing Minds
To drink – enables Mine
Through Desert or the Wilderness
As bore it Sealed Wine-
To go elastic- Or as One
The Camel’s trait – attained –
How powerful the Stimulus
Of an Hermetic Mind-
Emily Dickinson
And there was Emily. In the box. This is the poem I opened the book to. In my opinion Emily’s writing is brilliant and what her poems do to stimulate my mind is unique.
I’m the type of guy that will stuff my brain inside as not to let it show. When push comes to shove I stand on a bloody face with my boot on a head reciting a poem mixed between Emily Dickinson and Charles Bukowski knowing no one will understand why I created blood. And fuck them all.
As from the earth the light Balloon
Asks nothing but release—
Ascension that for which it was,
Its soaring Residence.
The spirit looks upon the Dust
That fastened it so long
With indignation,
As a Bird
Defrauded of its song.
-Emily Dickinson. A complete book of poems by Emily Dickinson.
There’s something about starting a day reading a poem by Emily that pushes my morning into a positive light.
New England bands culture with devotion. Where the four seasons are to be experienced and enjoyed, not endured. -M. Taggart
Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush Senior’s estate overlooks the ocean. Kennebunkport is a beautiful sea side town. Visit the shops or brew pubs and enjoy the views.Watch Hill, Westerly RI. Fog helps to set the mood. The child will not see whom he is waiting for again.Shapleigh, Maine. A man climbs a snow bank during a snowstorm (2014). The region had been hit by several snow storms. People in Maine are known for enjoying all four seasons. Apparently night time snow bank climbing counts.Brimfield, MA. The 2011 tornado badly damaged this New England town. Visit Brimfield’s massive antique show. You can view the tornado damage and help the town by having lunch or staying the night. Here’s where to find info http://www.brimfieldshow.comAmherst, MA. If you enjoy poetry, visit the Emily Dickinson house then visit downtown Amherst. It’s not a large town, but it’s just big enough to make an afternoon out of it. And if you’re researching colleges, there are five within minutes of one another.Maple syrup lines, New Hampshire. (source: Flickr user glass_house)Jonathan Edwards Winery. North Stonington, CT. Take a drive into the hills of Connecticut, you won’t be disappointed.Perry Long’s Lobster Shack, Surry, Maine. Find more info here http://www.mainetravelmaven.com/my-favorite-maine-lobster-shacks/Block Island, RI. Go here. Just, GO, Here. Take the quick ferry ride and find this beach.
New England consists of six states. Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Click the link below if you’d like to read a short story which takes place in the valley-farmlands of Western MA.
The Missing All – Prevented Me
From missing minor Things.
If nothing larger than a World’s
Departure from a Hinge-
Or Sun’s extinction, be observed-
‘Twas not so large that I
Could lift my Forehead from my work
For Curiosity.
Final Harvest, Emily Dickinson. Page 228, (985)
I especially enjoy Emily’s use of punctuation as she saw fit. Fitting her needs of expression. I don’t ask why she capitalized some and not others in a judgmental manner. As I was judged recently on a poem I wrote. No. I ask why because I’m pushed internally to know more and better learn her state of mind. Why judge an artist when it’s their creativity that drew your eyes to begin with.
Emily is a master. She was then also. It wasn’t Emily’s fault it took decades for understanding to catch up.
The Sky is low – the Clouds are mean.
A Travelling Flake of Snow
Across a Barn or through a Rut
Debates if it will go-
A Narrow Wind complains all Day
How some one treated him
Nature, like Us is sometimes caught
Without her Diadem.
Final Harvest, Emily Dickinson. 414 (1075) page 241.
Gavin, smile at that Narrow Wind. You’ll see him often and it should never ruin your mind. And though clouds truly can be mean let the debates take place and observe- Nature is not against you.
And if you’re able to catch the snow flake, do. Smile and let the rest wonder.
It’s a chilly October day and you are just 34 days old in this picture.
Western Massachusetts is a chillingly beautiful region where creativity comes from blood. -M. Taggart.
Turners Falls, MA. Railroad Salvage. As a child we’d shop here. Many of the old mill buildings along the canal are in similar shape.Taken from Sugarloaf Mountain in South Deerfield, MA. This is the ‘Valley’ region of Western, MA. Sunderland is on the left. Whately is on the right. In the distance is South Hadley and Holyoke. I once walked from the very point of where this picture was taken to the mountain range in the distance with my cousin, Adam.
Amherst, MA. The Emily Dickinson house. She spent much of her life alone in a room upstairs where she wrote her poems.
Northampton, MA. Northampton State Hospital, aka insane asylum. The hospital was shut down when they lost funding and the hospital was forced to literally open the doors. For years patients walked the Northampton streets. The same streets the Ninja Turtles beginnings are tied to.
Holyoke, MA. A severe storm with winds hitting 100 mph carved it’s way through this dilapidated mill building near the canals. I was located on the other side of this building when the storm hit. They said it was straight line winds. I dispute that.Gill, MA. My home town. Our driveway when I was nine.Springfield, MA. The Dr. Seuss museum.Shelburne Falls, MA. The high ledges. Among my most favorite places.Turners Falls, MA. Anthony Bourdain scored his first Heroin grab near here per his show ‘Parts Unknown episode 7’- I went to high school in this town. It was interesting.
copyright M. Taggart.
If you enjoyed this you might also enjoy my self published short story found on amazon-