ee, Emily, and Ellis - New England Writers II
October 21-22, 2000
Participants: Leigh Neithardt, Heather McConnell, Holly Timme, Julie Leff, Brett Mole, Jon Reisman, Damian Cunniff, Jessica Finelt, Felix Akusai, Jesse Goodglass, Ariel Finelt, Leslie Van Gelder, and the stolen ghost of Emily Dickinson
It's a rare weekend when all things seem to just have a way of working out perfectly. This was one of those weekends. Our plan was to go in search of New England's poets - live and dead. If we happened to have time for a wrestle in a leaf pile, or a wander through Boston, well, no one was going to complain...
We left New Jersey and convoyed up through Connecticut (which acquired a few new names) into Western Mass and Northampton. There we got to taste the delights of a fall farmer's market, visit with Holly, and stroll to Emily Dickinson's House. Initially we were turned away for the tour (who makes reservations for these kinds of things?) so we happily sat out in her front yard, reading poetry to each other and trying to make sense of the question - what is poetry and why does it matter. Eventually we were granted permission to go on the tour (which wasn't half as nice as lying in the yard under the oak tree watching leaves come down).
Back on the road again, we rushed to make it to Somerville in time to rendezvous with the Finelts and go to our Ellis Paul concert. A bit lost in Cambridge (who us?) we spent a frenzied hour trying to stay together in saturday night traffic. Cell phones, walkie-talkies and the occasional primal scream seemed to keep us in one group and we made it to the concert with minutes to spare.
Later, we took the last T to Ariel's and sat up visiting and reading more poetry and laughing. At some point we may have all even fallen asleep.
In the bright Boston morning we went on a mission to find Jesse's car and to see a bit of the city. Bright blue skies and a warm fall morning filled with bagels and more laughter.Getting lost in Cambridge again (we are such Towzos) we only reluctantly left and headed to Concord, where we found Hawthorne's house and had a great leaf pile adventure. We ended our poetic trip with a drive up into the cemetary where Thoreau, Hawthorne, Alcott and Emerson are buried. There, at the foot of Emerson's grave, Brett gave us the first reading of his poem, which was nothing short of phenomenal.
We drove back in the sunset and made it home in the early darkness. It was amazing to cover so much ground in so little time!
Our Situques
| HM | ||||
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AF
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JF
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JR
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HT
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AF
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EP
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LVG |
Suggested Readings:
Web Resources:
Emily Dickinson Archives of Letters
Emily Dickinson International Society
Emily Dickinson Homestead Virtual Tour
The Unofficial e e cummings Site
Curriculum Resources
These are the poems we carried in our pockets and read over the course of our trip
(carry them in your pockets, too!)