Thursday, August 9, 2018

Needed: Titanium Spines

Nothing scares me, because I used to think I was indestructible. Now I know I'm indestructible, not to mention my spine is indestructible. It's all titanium.
~Jason Priestley


Maybe "The Bone that has no Marrow" reminds you of someone? (Yes, I am perpetually aggravated by lack of stand-up behavior.)

from
CXXVII
by Emily Dickinson

The Bone that has no Marrow,
What Ultimate for that?
It is not fit for Table
For Beggar or for Cat.

A Bone has obligations —
A Being has the same —
A Marrowless Assembly
Is culpabler than shame.

********

For some reason, this week I remembered a project from years ago where someone asked for photos featuring bits of poetry. Here's one I made with a line from "You Can't Have It All" by Barbara Ras:


More are here

Nix the Comfort Zone has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Molly!

16 comments:

Donna Smith said...

Gotta love Miss Emily!

Sally Murphy said...

Emily Dickinson continues to delight me - her poetry is so very clever and I bet, as its creator, she was, too. Sharp and wise. I love 'culpabler than shame'.

Ruth said...

I too loved the word "culpabler." (I'm not at all sure it is a word, but it has a perfectly clunky sound that matches its meaning.)

Molly Hogan said...

Emily Dickinson's poem is a perfect commentary for these troubling times. Yesterday my husband's friend was visiting and they were talking about the state of our nation. The friend was sharing his disdain for the current corrupt administration and his worries about the divisiveness, exclusion and hatred that seem to be running rampant. I was listening in to the conversation (working on my PF post), and then I heard this man, a veteran, say simply and sadly, "I guess America isn't what I thought it was." Devastating. Thanks also for sharing the links to your powerful post and the poetic photos.

Kathryn Apel said...

I'm with Ruth. Loving it - but is that even a word? Culpabler? (If it isn't it can be. :) ) Also - did you make the engraving on the ... stick? In the pic? You're very good, if you did! #neat

Tabatha said...

Kat, I just wrote on it with Sharpie (no engraving) :-)

Christie Wyman said...

What's not to love about a PF post that opens with a quote from Jason Priestley and is followed up with a poem by Emily Dickinson! Just goes to show you (or shows to go you, as we used to say as kids!) anything can happen right here on PF!

Linda said...

What a great idea to put a bit of poetry on something from nature!

Kay said...

I always enjoy a bit from Emily Dickinson. And that photo with a snippet of poetry is just gorgeous. It's an image I could come back to again and again. I think everytime I look at it, I see something else to think about.

Michelle Kogan said...

Such a timely poignant poem by Emily Dickinson–And timely poetry art piece you made. Thanks for the link to your earlier post, the battle continues with I hope many more people voting this fall, thanks Tabatha

Mary Lee said...

I looked up "culpabler" and found that there's an Emily Dickinson Lexicon. Maybe we should all aspire to having our own lexicons!!

http://edl.byu.edu/lexicon/term/602503

I'll start mine with spinefulness. Yes, mindfulness might be healing, and necessary for the long run, but we're going to need a LOT of spinefulness to make sure we don't lose hold of what has made this nation great.

Linda Mitchell said...

Tabatha, I'm always awed by the amazing connections you make...and, I often wonder, "HOW DOES SHE DO THAT?" Emily Dickinson's poem hit me hard. I find myself fighting to find the positive in the political world. She describes what is true and what should be.....over a hundred years ago. Again, "HOW DOES SHE DO THAT?" I love the photograph you paired with the quotes and the poem. It's like a whole dissertation in very few words. Bravo! You make me want to be a better poet....or at least strive to find connections in the way that you do.

Liz Steinglass said...

I confess I didn't like her much as a high schooler, but I'm so glad I've come back to her, and since I didn't read much earlier, there's so much that's new to me. This is wonderful. Thanks so much for sharing it.

author amok said...

I love the one that reads "I'm always growing my inner forest." Like Liz, I've grown closer to Emily Dickinson's poems as I've grown.

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Wow that poem! The rye with peanut butter and banana your grandmother gave while everyone else slept, I can still taste it. Lovely photograph you took of that last line. I made a collage recently, and I put a few words in it. I'm still trying to decide if they are a poem or a title of a poem. Or if art is something else entirely.

Robyn Hood Black said...

Perfect for the now we're in, Tabatha. Thanks. And love Mary Lee's "spinefulness" up there, too!