When I saw that Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson were cousins, it just made sense. I saw Taylor Swift in concert several years ago and was just amazed by her ability to do it all. Write, play guitar, sing, dance, come down out of ceiling of the venue on a swing...That was way before the Eras Tour.
Emily Dickinson wrote over 1800 poems. She wrote them on envelopes. She wrote them on paper. She wrote letters. A book of those letters has just been published. She expressed a variety of feelings and wrote about many subjects. During her lifetime,only a few were published. Emily's sister, Lavinia, found them after Emily's death.
I began reading Emily Dickinson's poetry in the last few years and am so glad that I did.
Her poetry sticks in my mind;"the mermaids from the basement came out to look at me.”
How do her poems do that? How do Taylor's songs resonate with so many?
What would Emily think of Taylor? What does Taylor think of Emily? Taylor herself is a bit of a poet.. I mean she just released her new album,"The Tortured Poets Department." So there's that.
My favorite song from the album is."Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?"
-an excerpt
"So I leap from the gallows
And I levitate down your street
Crash the party like a record scratch
As I scream.
Who's afraid of Little Old me?
You Should be."
From Emily:
"The Heart is the Capital of the Mind
The Mind is a single state-
The Heart and the Mind together make
A single continent-
One is the population-
Numerous enough-
This ecstatic Nation
Seek-it is Yourself"
"Little .Old me is powerful"
"Seek- it is Yourself"
Both Emily and Taylor use their words to remind us that the individual is powerful.
We are enough.
An essential reminder for 1866 or 2024.