Archive for the ‘Emily Dickinson’ Category

The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

October 12, 2025

In the name of the Bee—
And of the Butterfly—
And of the Breeze—Amen!
Emily Dickinson

Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me
Walking in the woods is my favorite show
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Dogs and leopards and bobolinks agree
Give me a mountaintop slathered in snow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me

No more bosses and timeclocks to appease
No one monitors when I come and go
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Hugging a rainbow – talking to a tree
Sipping on the sunshine – living real slow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me

Overcome by joy – overwhelmed with ease
Sing with the flowers – listen to them grow `
The bee and the butterfly and the breeze

Daydream and become everything you see
Take a deep breath – your body feels the flow
Big ugly buildings don’t do much for me
I’ll take the bee and the butterfly and the breeze

by Richard W. Bray

Ain’t nothing on the outside that’s gonna make you whole

August 21, 2025

To fight aloud, is very brave —
But gallanter, I know
Who charge within the bosom
The Cavalry of Woe —
–Emily Dickinson

You always loved the thunder
And you're scared of the light
Hiding from your insides
So you pick another fight

It's time to shut up
And listen to yourself
Your neverending squabbles
Are ruining your health

Scrolling through the profiles
And it makes your body burn
Life is not a scrapbook
Some people never learn

It's time to shut up
And listen to your heart
Stop flailing around
Or you'll tear yourself apart

You're over there and everywhere
You're talking on the phone
In everybody's business
You can't stand to be alone

It's time to shut up
And listen to your soul
Ain't nothing on the outside
That's gonna make you whole

by Richard W. Bray

Panpsychism

September 8, 2024

Beyond the white snowy silence
And the nothing that is here
The hunger for existence
Overcomes its natural fear

Energy and motion
Eons gurgle into years
Consciousness and matter
Are suddenly clear

Every proton, every planet
Is alive and sincere
You can still hear the music
When it all disappears

by Richard W. Bray

Her, a bed, a book and me

August 23, 2024

Bless God that we catch faint glimpses of his brighter Paradise from occasional Heavens here.
Emily Dickinson


Her, a bed, a book and me
I kissed her goodnight
And then I put her to sleep

Her, a bed, a book and me
On occasional nights
Doggie makes three

Her, a bed, a book and me
An extraordinary poem–
McCarthy's Suttree

Her, a bed, a book and me
A universe of love
And eternity

Her, a bed, a book and me
The greatest pleasures
Are actually free

by Richard W. Bray

Wystan and Emily

May 11, 2024


life comes at me in rhythm
words come at me in rhyme
toil teaching wisdom
the only place is time

walk along the seashore
frolicking in the snow
tasting all the sunshine
existing as i go

Wystan and Emily
sang a sonnet just for me
silently throughout the years
it danced a journey to my ears


by Richard W. Bray


No joy in being right

October 25, 2023


I wake up in the night
No joy in being right

Shut your eyes
And close your ears
As it tumbles down like tears

The news that burns your soul
The things we can’t control

Uphill all the way
Every minute of the day

Big dreams and little toils
A sunny day, a patch of soil

Way leads on to way
When there’s nothing 
More to say

by Richard W. Bray

To Fight Aloud Is What You Do

October 30, 2022

To fight aloud
Is what you do
To hide from
What's inside of you

Refute the things 
That people say
And box in bars
On Saturday

To fight aloud 
Is what you do
To hide from 
What's inside of you

Upset, attack  
Disturb, annoy
Nag and nag
And nag your boy

To fight aloud
Is what you do
To hide from 
What's inside of you

Bicker, fuss
And fight and feud
And then you say
"You're being rude"

To fight aloud
Is what you do
To hide from 
What's inside of you

by Richard W. Bray

so many things I wanna tell you

August 28, 2021

So many things I wanna tell you
Every single day
So Many things I wanna tell you
But you went away
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.Emily Dickinson
I heard a funny story
I saw a good film
So many things I wanna tell you
Things to make you smile
So many things I wanna tell you
Every single day
So many things I wanna tell you
But you went away

I had a bad day
I wanted to cry
So many things I wanna tell you
To help me get by
So many things I wanna tell you
Every single day
So many things I wanna tell you
But you went away

I pulled myself together
Dug out of my ditch
So many things I wanna tell you
Life is such a bitch
So many things I wanna tell you
Every single day
So many things I wanna tell you
But you went away

Everything that happened
Was better with you
So many things I wanna tell you
But there’s nothing I can do
So many things I wanna tell you
Every single day
So many things I wanna tell you
But you went away

by Richard W. Bray

Granite to Grass

December 17, 2020

‘Tis sweet to know that stocks will stand
When we with Daisies lie—

Emily Dickinson, If I Should Die

Darker nights than ever
Hearts of shattered glass
Hefting laden caskets
Setting granite in the grass

They will come for all the bodies
Then they’ll come and take our homes
The machine keeps right on turning
And grinding up the bones

When disaster makes you richer
What could ever make you whole?
Is it just the love of Mammon?
Or the absence of a soul?

They will come for all the bodies
Then they’ll come and take our homes
The machine keeps right on turning
And grinding up the bones

by Richard W. Bray

anger into hope

July 11, 2020

 

I had no time to Hate—
Because The Grave would hinder Me—
And life was not so
Ample I
Could finish—Enmity
Emily Dickinson

bullets bombs and mayhem
centuries of hate
liars on my tv
paid to complicate

swords into plowshares
anger into hope
we only got each other
and there’s nowhere else to go

the man behind the curtain
ain’t who we elect
greedy getting richer
so many lives are wrecked

swords into plowshares
anger into hope
we only got each other
and there’s nowhere else to go

always question Power
resist the exploitation
don’t listen when they tell you
to hate another nation

swords into plowshares
anger into hope
we only got each other
and there’s nowhere else to go

 

by Richard W. Bray