The Poets light but Lamps (930)

The Poets light but Lamps —
Themselves — go out —
The Wicks they stimulate
If vital Light

Inhere as do the Suns —
Each Age a Lens
Disseminating their
Circumference —

Emily Dickinson

I took these photographs yesterday. A friend who knows both Emily Dickinson’s work and the city of Amherst, Massachusetts well gave me the postcard of Dickinson’s desk some years ago. If you look through her window, the landscape appears to be that of early April. I decided yesterday to send it to a friend who takes daily comfort in mail. Then I thought to take a photograph of the mailbox through the just-now-blooming pussy willow branches. Finally, I came inside and caught sight of the paper weight–also a gift from my Dickinson-loving friend (Thank you, Sally!)

About My Poem for April 5: “Azaleas at Winterthur”

I love spring more each year. And I have always had a particular appreciation for azaleas, probably stemming from childhood years in Portland, Oregon where they vie with rhododendrons for pride of place. In Lake Charles, Louisiana, where I spent two years in an M.F.A. program, I was stupefied by the explosions of azaleas in February. Here in Northfield, I occasionally see one of the hardy Northern Lights azaleas bred by the University of Minnesota, and I still hope one day to have one planted in our garden.

Within all these memories and dreams, however, nothing tops the time my friend, Beth, drove from her apartment on the campus of Westtown School to the incredible horticultural gardens of Winterthur Estate. Designed by Henry Francis du Pont, these gardens are a kind of living library of plants, curated for impact of form and color.

I couldn’t locate any photos from my trip to Winterthur. That was back before I had my first digital camera. Instead, here are a few local buds, leaves and blooms from earlier springs.

Happy Reading! Happy Writing! Happy Spring! LESLIE

P.S. A special thank you to Mark Danowsky of ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry. His April newsletter offered a list of prompts, one involving colors, that was the catalyst for today’s poem.