My First Poem in Advanced Poetry

I must admit, I am suffering from a transition that I hardly anticipated. I am becoming a poet. For years, my strength as a creative writer has always been fiction writing. I loved writing short stories, or even novels, that told intriguing stories from beginning to end. However, something has changed within me. I am still a good fiction writer, though it is not my only passion now. 

An old Remington typewriter (photo/fineartamerica.com)

My heart has turned to poetry. In the creative writing major, we are expected to take different workshop courses to expand our interests in writing. Last semester, I took Intermediate Poetry Workshop. It was an adventure—an eye-opening one, most definitely.

I wrote six poems, and I found myself inspired by my favorite poet—Emily Dickinson. Within her work, she wrote about her passions, her fears, and her most intriguing questions. She was a nature poet, constantly fascinated by the visions she explored outside her home in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was a beautiful poet, and I love her striking Dickinson dash. 

Because I could not stop for Death – (479)

Emily Dickinson (photo/poets.org)

 EMILY DICKINSON

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –

The Dews drew quivering and Chill –

For only Gossamer, my Gown –

My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity –

Now I experiment with the dash as a punctuation mark, as it represents a pause, a separation, or even a connection. Only Emily Dickinson knows what she really meant with the dash.

Now I just wrote my first poem for Advanced Poetry Workshop. I did not have to take this course. I fulfilled my requirements for the workshop courses, yet I did not want to stop. I want to learn more about poetry. This semester, we are studying Emily Dickinson’s poetry, as opposed to last semester when we became experts on Walt Whitman – the father of American poetry. 

Walt Whitman (photo/poetryfoundation.org)

Poetry, I am ready to learn. I am ready to write. I am ready to experience. It’s going to be a great semester.

Emily Dickinson wrote, “This is my letter to the world.”

This is my letter to you.

    -KJL-

“Because I could not stop for Death—” came from Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177119