I’ve started reading the entire Emily Dickinson collection of poetry. A few poems each morning and a few each night make a poetic meditation practice of sorts. A few poems a day allow me the time to analyze each poem and dig into her unusual syntax.

Observations so far: She writes so much about nature, reading her poems in nature is nearly overwhelming.  She uses a lot of exclamation points.  She uses Yoda-syntax, i.e., “afraid you are, young Jedi.”  It’s really hard to get “The Yellow Rose of Texas” rhythms out of your head when you read her.  Thanks, Billy Collins and NPR.

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